Knightfall
by Anthurak The Chaos Lord
Summary: As rebellion and revolution ravage Japan, deeper powers begin their work, and a Fallen Angel seeks his Redemption. Lelouch/C.C. response to James D. Fawkes's Musashi: Hyaku Shiki challenge. crossover. DISCONTINUED UP FOR ADOPTION
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

""-Normal speaking

''-Normal thought

""-Radio chat

**Chapter I**

**Narita**

--

Lelouch grimaced under his dark helmet that concealed his face as he stood atop his wreaked and ruined Burai Knightmare frame. In front of him was what could be considered the bane of his revolution. The white Knightmare that had foiled several of his past operations since Shinjiku, and now at Narita. The Lancelot. And now here it stood before him, fully operational and ready to destroy him. Was this the end? Was his rebellion destined to fail here?

'_Zero… I know I owe you a lot. And that there are many Elevens who support you from the shadows…'_ Suzaku Kuurugi thought to himself within the large machine. _'However… your methods are…'_ he continued as he raised his VARIS rifle at the cloaked revolutionary in front of him, _'…very wrong'_

He was about to fire when chatter came in over his communications line.

"_Hey look! It's the Lancelot! And… He's cornered Zero!"_

Suzaku glanced to his right to see a pair of Sutherlands, from the Purist Faction by the looks of them. Lelouch also saw them, though he was scowling even more now.

"_Heh. An Eleven capturing the one who's leading an Eleven rebellion._ _That's irony for ya"_ said the pilot of the other unit.

Suzaku grimaced. They were Purist Faction all right. But he had more pressing issues to deal with. Like capturing the terrorist in front of him.

Said 'terrorist' was currently wracking his brain for a way to escape this situation. Being cornered by _three_ Knightmares with his own unit destroyed, and with no chance of backup… it looked like it was truly over for him. Even Geass was useless here, since he needed eye contact with the target.

'_Worry not, Lelouch Vi Britannia'_

Lelouch's eyes widened at the voice that seemed to come from _inside_ his own head, but was broken from his shock as one of the Sutherlands to his left suddenly exploded.

A yell of shock and terror from the other pilot was the only warning Suzaku got before something crashed into the Lancelot, sending it flying.

Lelouch's eye widened further as the dust in front of him settled to reveal his savior, or so he hoped.

In front of him was a Knightmare the likes of which he'd never seen before. It was larger then the average Sutherland or Burai, and about the same size as the Lancelot. Its frame was also similar to the Lancelot's but also resembled the Gurren Mrk. 2. Its head resembled an elongated helm, with a small fin emerging from the top. Its hands were similar to the Gurren's Fukushahado arm, though they were normal sized and the claws were smaller so that they could function as normal hands. They also housed a slash harken in each forearm like the Lancelot. In its right hand was a large black katana that seemed to shimmer in a way not unlike the Lancelot's MVS swords and behind its right shoulder was what appeared to be a folded up sword that was even larger. Behind its left shoulder was a large rifle that resembled the VARIS rifle. The other interesting feature was that there didn't seem to be a cockpit on the frames back, which meant the control booth must be within its main body. Finally, the entire frame was colored a mix of crimson, black and golden along with the clawed hands being a dull gray.

"_What the hell?! Is he with the Black Knights too?!"_ was the reaction of the other Sutherland pilot.

Lelouch was broken from his shock of this new development as the same voice from before spoke in his head.

'_Lelouch, find some cover. I'll handle these two'_

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Lelouch quickly jumped down from his destroyed Knightmare and ran for the trees. He didn't want to get too much distance though, as he knew the entire mountain could still be swarming with the retreating Briatannian forces. And besides, he was curious about this new would-be ally of his.

Not wasting any time, the newcomer charged the Lancelot. Quickly shaking off his daze and shock, Suzaku leveled his rifle at the approaching machine and fired. The Knightmare reacted by slashing through the shot with its katana and was rapidly upon Lancelot which had drawn one of its MVS swords with its free hand. Suzaku grimaced as he almost _felt_ the Lancelot groan under the strain as the blades collided, then separated. Dropping his VARIS, Suzaku drew his other sword and reengaged this mysterious Knightmare. As their blades crossed repeatedly, it quickly became apparent that Suzaku was outmatched. This frame was as powerful, if not more so then the Lancelot, and its pilot was certainly better then Suzaku. It seemed he might just be out of his league on this one.

Meanwhile, Lelouch was watching the battle when he saw the Sutherland begin to move towards his position. It hadn't seen him run off but now it was looking for him.

"_Lancelot! Keep that thing busy! I'll nab Zero!"_ its pilot yelled to Suzaku, who briefly wondered if he was trying to pull some personal glory for capturing Zero, but he quickly tossed those thoughts out as he had more important things to worry about.

The pilot of the new frame scowled as he saw the Sutherland head for Lelouch's hiding spot.

'_Damn. I don't have time to deal with this guy'_

Quicker then Suzaku could do more then register, the Knightmare slammed the palm of its left hand over the Lancelot's head, and by proxy Suzaku's view screen. As Suzaku tried to move the Lancelot free, he noticed something that made him freeze in shock. The metal plates on the palm covering his screen opened up to reveal a giant _eye_. It was a sickly yellow and its pupil was slitted like that of a cat's. As he tried to comprehend how something like that could be, images flashed before his eyes, images that could make him do naught but scream in terror.

'_Fa…Father…?'_

Lelouch was wondering what the other frame did to make the Lancelot suddenly freeze up like it did, but he also had move to avoid the incoming Sutherland. As he did, he saw something he _really_ wasn't expecting.

"C.C.? What is she doing here?"

And it was the green haired girl who had given him his mysterious power, but something was different about her. She seemed to be… in pain. She was hunched over somewhat and seemed to be hugging herself. Her eyes were clinched shut as if she was in pain somehow, and the strange mark on her forehead was glowing as well. Glancing back at the now paralyzed Lancelot and its opponent Lelouch realized something.

'_That things pilot must be Geass user too, and whatever he's doing is affecting C.C. And that would explain his telepathy as well'_

Noticing that the Sutherland was almost on them, Lelouch realized that C.C. was right in the open and would be seen.

"C.C.! Get down!" the girl seemed to be broken from her trance as she looked up only to be tackled by Lelouch.

"_Ah HA! Gotcha now Zero!"_ with that the pilot opened fire, and though the bullets hit neither of the two, it sprayed up dirt and rocks into deadly shrapnel, a piece of which embedded itself in C.C.'s chest. As she slumped forward, Lelouch caught her.

"I'm fine" she stammered, "Lelouch you have to run now!"

Lelouch seemed about to do that when a shadow fell over them as Sutherland stood before them, its rifle ready to obliterate them both.

Noticing this, the pilot of the new Knightmare quickly sheathed his katana and kicked the now inert Lancelot away. Turning towards the Sutherland, the frame held its right hand out behind itself as a section of its back opened up, revealing what looked like an exhaust port of some kind. Almost immediately, a blast of blue flame shot from the exhaust, propelling the machine forward at speeds no other Knightmare could match. As it neared the Sutherland, the palm of its right hand opened up to reveal an energy emitter. Right as it was almost upon the enemy frame, dark crimson energy flowed from the emitter, forming a spiraling orb in the frames palm.

The Sutherland turned in response to the incredible booming noise that the other frame was making just in time for said frame to slam the orb into its chest. The orb didn't stop there, it literally _bored_ into the hardened steel armor of the Knightmare before stopping right before the cockpit. At that, the frame pulled its arm out right as the Sutherland exploded in a blast of red energy that the orb had been made of. Lelouch and C.C. were almost blown off their feet from the shockwave were it not for the black and gold from protecting them. Looking up, Lelouch saw the frame standing over them, its clawed hand extended.

'_Get on'_

"Not like I have a choice" Lelouch muttered as he picked up C.C. bridal style, she was unconscious by this point, and got onto the large hand, wary of the sharp claws that were its fingers. As the frame sped off, Lelouch yelled to it, hoping the pilot could hear him.

"Who are you?"

'_I'll tell you when we get to more secure location'_

"Which is where?"

'_Here'_ the voice replied as the frame sped into a large cave and stopped, its hand lowering Lelouch and the unconscious C.C. to the ground.

As Lelouch began treating C.C.'s wounds with what little medical knowledge he had, the Knightmare powered down and the pilot disembarked though a hatch on the frames back.

Finished with what he could do for the girl (not that it mattered, she seemed practically indestructible), Lelouch turned to face their savior. He was garbed in a non-descript black cloak that concealed his features. His head and face were concealed by a hood and face mask similar to the one Lelouch wore under his Zero helmet, which he had removed once they had entered the cave.

"So… are you going to show your face now?" he addressed the cloaked man in front of him.

The man chuckled, a sound that Lelouch found quite familiar for some reason.

"It seems you haven't lost your bluntness Lelouch" the man said as he began to pull down his hood and mask. "But you are more mature, I'll give you that" he finished as his face was revealed. Lelouch's eyes widened briefly before he adopted his characteristic confident smirk.

"So… You're like C.C. aren't you?"

"I see you remember me after all" the man, no, _boy_ chuckled.

"Of course…" Lelouch replied examining the features of the boy that seemed to be only slightly older then himself. Features that had gone unchanged in seven years. His gravity defying blonde hair, his azure blue eyes, and the strange scars marking his cheeks.

"…Naruto-sensei"

--

AN: Well there you go. The first chapter of my newest fic. Again, this is the answer to James D. Fawkes's Code Geass fic challenge. And yes, I've started this almost in the same fashion I started Deathscythe, with Naruto coming out of the blue to save the main character from something. Oh well. Deal with it.

As for visualization on Naruto's Knightmare frame, it's basically a combination of the Gwain and the Lancelot in its base design, though the head is that of the Nirvash from Eureka 7. And yes, the attack he used to take out the Sutherland was a Knightmare frame version of Rasengan. As for how it was done, it's more or less the Hadron cannon being condensed into a close-range attack using the Fukushahado technology. Needless to say, Naruto has been stealing technology from just about everyone.

And this is going to be a Lelouch/C.C. fic if you didn't realize that already.

As for what Naruto did to Suzaku, it's the same thing that C.C. did to him in canon.

And as for Naruto's abilities, no he won't be using Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or whatever. I plan to keep to the restraints James D. Fawkes set. Apart from the title, I thought mine worked better.

Finally, these are the genres that I'll might be taking Knightmare designs/weapons from should the need arise.

Gundam in general

Armored Core 4

Eureka 7

And I know, I still haven't updated any other of my fics save 'Roku Naruto', but I've basically hit a writer's block the size of the Death Star on all of them, so it might take a little while before you see the next chapters of any of them. I will say I'm making the most headway on NNK so that should be updated hopefully by the end of the month, as for the others… I don't know.

R&R.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"AHHHH"-Normal speaking

'_get out of my head!!'_-Normal thought

"_melon"_-Radio chat

**Chapter II**

**Teacher**

--

C.C. lay naked under Lelouch's cloak in the large cave next to a small pool of water. Next to her knelt the aforementioned teen, having just finished wrapping the girls wounds. His newfound ally and former mentor stood nearby, leaning up against the leg of his Knightmare frame, seemingly watching the other two, but at the same time having a far off look in his azure eyes.

A small smile came to Lelouch's face as he remembered that it was Naruto who had taught him how to properly dress wounds. It was one of the many practical skills the boy had taught him. Boy… Lelouch wondered if that was really the proper term for one such as Naruto. Even though he had the appearance of someone just slightly older then himself, for all he knew, the blonde could be several hundred years old.

He was quickly brought back to his senses and covered C.C. up again with his discarded cloak, hoping Naruto didn't notice the slight reddening of his cheeks. Naruto had always been one to tease him about any romantic relationship he might have when he was under the older boy's tutelage seven years ago. He could only guess what he would say now, and those guesses did not give him any reassurance.

Not that he actually _had_ any romantic feelings towards the green-haired girl. Why should he? She was simply an ally, a comrade, a friend at best.

But then… why had he been so concerned for her? Why did he bother dressing her wounds even though he knew there was no need to? Why did he feel a need to protect her when she was vulnerable? When that piece of shrapnel embedded itself in her chest, why did he feel his heart leap into his throat for just an instant until she spoke? And why, when that Knightmare had loomed over them both, and she had yelled at him to run, why didn't he? Why had he been unable to bring himself to leave her?

Lelouch quickly shook those thoughts from his head. These were not the thoughts that someone in his position should be thinking right now.

Lelouch stood and turned to the one who was his oldest friend next to Suzaku, and probably an even better friend then the other boy. For one very important reason; Naruto shared his views on Britannia.

"Tell me; what did you do to the Lancelot?" he asked the blonde.

Naruto simply shrugged.

"It's more or less a mental shock. It makes the target see what they fear most in a nightmare-like form. It's usually powerful enough to completely paralyze a person in fear, so it wasn't really the Knightmare itself I was affecting, it was the pilot. Why do you ask?"

Glancing over to C.C.'s prone form, Lelouch answered.

"Do you know why it was affecting C.C.?"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly at this before assuming a thoughtful look.

"What were her symptoms?"

"She seemed to be paralyzed somehow, as well as in some kind of pain. The sigil on her forehead was also glowing"

"Well… all contract givers have that power, and my Musashi frame has a special system that amplifies my powers and lets me use them from inside it, so I suppose she was just getting a backlash from it" Naruto answered. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Lelouch looking at C.C. with a look of confusion, wonder and… pity?

"Lelouch… did you touch her while she was like that?"

Lelouch looked back to his friend, seeing the concerned and stern look on his face.

"Yes" he replied, thinking back to what happened when he had tackled C.C.

--

Flashback

"C.C.! Get down!"

Said girl seemed to be broken from her trance as she looked up only to be tackled by Lelouch, both of them falling to the ground in heap.

Lelouch noticed none of this however. The minute he had touched C.C., he was assaulted with images. Hundreds of them. Only a few of them remained in his vision to make out with any clarity. He also felt his Geass activate in his right eye, though he couldn't think how.

He saw a group of people, an angry mob if he could think of anything to describe them, standing outside of a church of some kind. He realized from the look of the buildings around the church and the clothes of the people, that this must be several hundred years ago. The people were throwing rocks and yelling at the church, which had a symbol above its door that seemed eerily familiar to Lelouch. Right as the mob broke through the church's doors, the image shifted again.

The second image was of a nun with the same tattoo on her brow.

He then saw C.C., sitting naked in a stream. She seemed to be crying, whether in pain or sadness, Lelouch couldn't tell. Lelouch noticed a large scar of that familiar symbol now carved around, on, and below the flesh of her left breast.

The next image was of a mass of children, all with Geass sigils on their foreheads. Next he saw other children, perhaps the same ones, running from people. People who seemed to be trying to kill them.

More images passed through his vision, most to fast for him to even register, until a scream sounded through his mind.

"Get out of my head!!" came a voice that Lelouch recognized as C.C.'s.

Right as he heard that however, the flashing images stopped, and a final image appeared. One that chilled him to the core.

He saw a frozen wasteland, devoid of life, or light as it seemed to be night. A great storm blew across the landscape and occasional rocky outcropping or mountain, swirling the snow around in a great tempest. But what Lelouch was really looking at, was what was standing in the center of it all. It was some kind of dark beast, more massive then any Knightmare frame. It seemed vaguely humanoid, and was hunched over on what seemed to be its hands and knees. Lelouch couldn't make out any details about the creature, as it was to dark to see well. The only detail he could make out was a large horn emerging from its forehead. Suddenly however, the beast seemed to rear itself up, throwing its arms out as it roared to the heavens. As it did, the entire creature seemed to turn a luminescent white, and massive wings spread from its shoulders. Just as its great roar reached its peak, Lelouch's vision turned white, and he was brought back to reality.

End Flashback

--

Naruto sighed almost in defeat as Lelouch told him what had happened.

"Naruto, those were her memories that I was seeing, weren't they?"

"Yeah. When you touched her, it seems you got a backlash and saw into her own mind" Naruto answered.

Lelouch nodded in confirmation. He hadn't said anything about the final image. He had a feeling that there was something more to that and he didn't want Naruto knowing that just yet.

Deciding to broach another of his questions to his former teacher, Lelouch looked to the black and gold machine that Naruto was leaning against.

"I didn't know you had a Knightmare frame. And what kind is it? I've never seen anything like it"

Naruto chuckled as he followed Lelouch's gaze.

"Well, to answer your second and third questions, it's the Musashi. It's a custom model that I designed using technology I stole from Britannia's R&D. I also took some inspiration from the stuff that Indian scientist Rakshata came up with. She designed the Gurren Mk. 2 that your people use as I recall. As for your first question, back then I didn't have one. I only finished this thing about a year ago"

"So does that mean you're here to join us?"

"Of course" Naruto answered with a small grin. "You know I'm always up for a fight, and you'll need me to bail you out of whatever shit you get yourself into"

Lelouch smiled softly at Naruto's teasing. In all actuality, he was glad to have his former teacher with them and not just for his piloting ability, which seemed to rival or even surpass Kallen's. Naruto had always been a voice of reason to Lelouch, as well as in many respects his moral compass. If it weren't for the boy's teachings, Lelouch was pretty sure he'd still be consumed by his own thirst for vengeance for his mother and sister. Or dead.

That and his strategic and tactical mind was already finding uses for Naruto's talents. Needless to say, there were many. Not only was Naruto an excellent pilot, on par with the likes of Kallen and the Lancelot's pilot (whoever that was), but unlike the other two he was a skilled tactician. While his tactical skill was still below Lelouch's own, it was still better then anyone else in the Black Knights. Plus, he had a talent in strategizing that would make him an invaluable ally. He could quickly adapt to changing combat situations, either reforming his original plan or coming up with a new one. While these new plans would not be as effective as ones Lelouch could come up with, they were better then any he could formulate in the same amount of time. Then there were his newly revealed supernatural abilities, which Lelouch knew would come in handy. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Lelouch knew he could trust him. Naruto would stay at his side through thick and thin, and unlike Suzaku, he shared Lelouch's ideal that such contemptible methods were necessary in such a situation. In fact, Naruto had been the one who had taught Lelouch that ideal.

"There's one other thing I wanted to ask you"

Naruto raised an eyebrow in curiosity, an action Lelouch had seen often in him.

"Shoot"

"If you are like C.C., and can give contracts, why didn't you offer me a contract back then?"

Naruto sighed and shook his head.

"For two reasons" he replied, holding up two fingers to convey his point. "One, you weren't ready"

Lelouch cocked his head to the left in curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"Well, think of the state your mind was in back then. If I had offered you such a power back then, what do you think would have happened? Do you think you would be using it responsibly or controlled like you are now? Or would you have done something… different?"

Lelouch's eyes widened slightly at this, and the realization of how right Naruto was. Acknowledging this, Naruto continued.

"That, and you were too young to begin with. Too inexperienced. Power is not something to be given to the inexperienced or immature. People like that can't control it, and that's even more true with a mental power like Geass. Chances are it would have driven you insane. Trust me, I've seen it happen before, and chances are you'll see it for yourself what it can do to a person. I've found that Geass users tend to be drawn to one another for some reason or another"

Lelouch nodded in affirmation.

"And what's the second reason?" he asked.

Holding up two fingers, Naruto answered. "The second reason is… I can't" he said as he shrugged.

"You… can't?"

"Nope. Let's just say I'm… different then from C.C. and other contract givers"

"How so?" Lelouch asked.

"Sorry but I can't tell you. Not yet anyway"

Lelouch decided to drop the topic. It was obvious Naruto wasn't going to tell him, at least not yet.

Walking back over to where C.C. lay, Lelouch knelt at her side.

"Even so, I'm glad you decided to join us" Lelouch mused. Frowning seriously again, he turned his attention back to C.C., running his fingers over the mark tattooed on her forehead. "Clovis was researching her in secret, so she's obviously not related to Britannia. Her vital signs, though, are just like any normal human being's."

She stirred in her sleep, whispering something. Caught off guard, Lelouch leaned in closer in case she was asking for something, pressing his ear close to her lips.

"C.C.?" he asked in a low voice. A drop of water fell from the ceiling and Lelouch suddenly pulled away, eyes wide as he looked back down at the green haired girl laying naked beneath his cloak. At what she had whispered in a voice so soft he was sure not even Naruto, whom he knew had unnaturally good hearing, would have heard.

"You finally called me by my name," she whispered. Shocked, Lelouch sat back on his haunches, Naruto's quiet chuckles echoing from the walls. Lelouch was as dense as ever it seemed.

Coming back to his senses as she stirred and woke, he spoke to her, "I removed the shrapnel and cleaned your wounds."

"There was no need," she replied as she sat up.

"So it would seem," he mused.

"You didn't have to save me," she declared boldly. "Why are you always so unnecessarily proud?"

"Well, I learned something interesting," he smirked lightly. He said her name, but the sound of water dropping to the floor made it impossible for Naruto to decipher, not that he really cared. "Your name."

C.C.'s eyes widened briefly before settling into her normal look. "Eavesdropping is a bad habit to get into," she said coldly.

"It's a nice name," he told her, though his voice made it hard to tell it was a compliment. "Certainly more human than C.C."

"That's stupid," she told him with a hint of humor. "Nothing about me is human. After all, I…I…forgot everything. All of it. I can't have a name."

"Well, this is as good a time as any to say it," Lelouch said dispassionately. "Yes, you saved me back there…and indeed, several times before, including giving Geass to me. So…I won't say it twice. Thank you."

C.C.'s eyes went wide, "That's the first time anyone's thanked me for anything"

Lelouch smiled softly before schooling his expression.

"Well then, would you mind returning the favor? Call for me again, like you did before."

Lelouch blinked owlishly, "Oh, your name?"

"Just once," C.C. said, smiling slightly, "kindly, gently, like a lover would."

A smile twitched at his mouth, "Very well."

His lips curled over each syllable and his voice was soft and warm, indeed like a lover.

Naruto was a little annoyed now. It wasn't like he really cared, but why exactly was it that both times C.C.'s name was spoken, a drop of water would fall into the pool of water and obscure the sound? But that was irrelevant. Hearing Lelouch's interactions with the girl was _highly_ amusing.

After a minute of silence, during which he ignored the blonde's soft chuckles, Lelouch asked, "How was that?"

It took the girl a moment to respond, during which he noticed her pleasurable shiver, but she said, in her usual tone, "Horrible. It was absolutely horrible. It wasn't kind or gentle and you didn't sound anything like my lover. Your pronunciation was off and you looked cold while saying it, too."

Naruto's chuckles grew slightly in volume, but Lelouch couldn't help the smile, "You're such a shrew."

"Of course I am," though she was smiling, she replied as if it was more obvious than the sky being blue. "I _am_ C.C., after all."

Not much later, dressed once more in his infamous costume, Lelouch turned his cell phone off with an audible beep. Ignoring the other frame in the cave, Kallen came rushing into the cave, panting with excitement. As she caught sight of him, she called out, relieved, "Zero! Are you all right? The others are already—."

She paused as she caught sight of Naruto and C.C., the former of which was cheerfully waving at her while wearing a disarming smile "Who are you?"

"Ah, don't worry," Lelouch said smoothly, "she's a dear friend of mine and he is our latest recruit, Naruto Namikaze"

As the red haired girl nodded and left to return to her machine, though she was eyeing Naruto suspiciously on her way out, and Naruto himself returned to his own, Lelouch turned back to the green-haired girl, who was now fully up and dressed.

"C.C., I don't know why snow is white, but I do find such white snow beautiful. I don't hate it at all."

"I see," the girl responded neutrally.

Naruto's lips curled as he climbed into the Musashi's cockpit, "Well, that certainly is interesting."

He never did explain what he meant by that as Lelouch and C.C. got onto the frames hand as it powered up and sped out of the cave.

--

Wow. An update in two weeks? I'd say that's a new record for me.

Yes, Lelouch is acting a bit OOC, but remember, the AU element of this story started seven years ago when Naruto became Lelouch's mentor and pseudo-caretaker. More on that will be filled in later.

As for Lelouch's vision, well that will be explained over the course of the story (major plot element).

Concerning Naruto, his abilities are going to be somewhat of a combination between Newtype abilities, C.C.'s abilities (I'm just going to assume that all contract givers can do that 'mental shock' thing), some illusionary powers (concealment mainly), and force powers. Now by that I mean mind tricks and maybe a little telekinesis, not force choking or electrocuting people (at least not yet)

Read and Review please.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"AHHHH"-Normal speaking

'_get out of my head!!'_-Normal thought

"_melon"_-Radio chat

**Chapter III**

**Alliance**

--

Ohgi stood in the large van that was the mobile headquarters of the Black Knights, scrutinizing, or at least trying to scrutinize, their newest recruit.

He hadn't been _too_ surprised when an unfamiliar Knightmare frame had joined them at the rendezvous point, their enigmatic leader held in one of its clawed hands. Zero had radioed ahead of them to tell them of the knew arrival, but needless to say, Ohgi had been surprised when what appeared to be a highly advanced looking Knightmare frame had followed Kallen out of the Narita area.

Even more surprising was the pilot, who seemed just as enigmatic and mysterious as Zero. The rest of the Black Knights had been quite surprised seeing yet another masked man climb out of the cockpit of the machine. Said man, or older teen possibly, was now standing next to Zero at the front of their van, the latter about to explain the former's presence. Or so Ohgi hoped. The last thing they needed right now was another unknown member of their team. Especially if that member seemed to be very close to their masked leader.

Frankly, the figure was even more foreboding then Zero was. He was garbed in a black cloak like Zero's, except it seemed a bit darker. Under the cloak was what appeared to be body armor of some kind. It consisted of a dark red cuirass, black armored pants and combat boots. The rest was concealed under a black trench coat that rested under the figures cloak. But what most set their newest recruit apart from Zero was what adorned his head. Unlike the large helmet-like mask that made their leader so infamous, the newcomer concealed most of his head with a dark hood from his cloak. And under that cloak was a faceless mask, a mask that Ohgi would freely admit, made the newcomer all the creepier. The mask had a slight T-shape to it, and was a dark crimson with sections that were pure black and seemed to be scared from battle use. Finally, it possessed a single thin black eye-slit going across it that Ohgi knew the man was staring out at them from behind. All and all, while Zero held a foreboding and dark aura, this man seemed downright creepy, like he was some kind of assassin or dark overlord from a fantasy novel.

"So… who is this guy anyway?" Tamaki spoke up, as he was almost always the one to speak up start talking first

"As I told Kallen," Zero began, "this is our newest recruit, Naruto Namikaze. He's an old friend of mine, and his talents and abilities will greatly boost our fighting potential"

Now this truly interested Ohgi. Judging from the name, the man was obviously Japanese, but it was what Zero had just said about him that really caught his attention. If this Naruto person was an old friend of Zero, it meant that he probably knew Zero's true identity as well.

"Zero, forgive me if I'm speaking out of line, but why does he wear a mask like you do? Does this mean we can't know what he looks like either? I think that if we know his name, we should at least know his face" Ohgi said, deciding to broach his concerns about another masked member of their organization.

"Very perceptive Ohgi, but it is not my call. Fortunately, Naruto has agreed to show his face to those here, but his face and name will remain concealed to most others" Lelouch replied under his mask, turning to Naruto to continue.

Bringing his hand up to the mask concealing his face, Naruto spoke. "I usually don't like concealing my identity, but it is necessary. My identity will only be known to the highest levels of the Black Knights, in other words, you. I hope you can keep this secret"

"Of course" Ohgi answered, the others nodding in agreement. "But why exactly is it necessary?"

"Well…" Naruto said as he removed the mask, revealing his blonde hair, blue eyes and scarred cheeks, "While I am Japanese by birth, I've spent most of my life outside the country. I have many contacts and aliases around the world that will come in handy for our efforts. And lets just say some of my contacts wouldn't be to happy to discover that I'm working with a terrorist organization like the Black Knights. And yes, that does mean some of them are Britannian" he finished as he slid the mask into his cloak.

The other Black Knights nodded in affirmation, though most of them were a bit shocked to see such a cheerful face behind such a dark and foreboding outfit. Though curious, Ohgi didn't feel like broaching the topic.

"Hey, so if you're trying to be so subtle, what's with the flashy outfit anyway?"

After all, Tamaki would could always be counted on to ask the stupid and usually irrelevant questions.

"Because it looks badass. Why do you think I wear it?"

'_Huh?'_ was most of the collected thoughts of the assembled Black Knights at that moment. Lelouch simply smiled under his mask and shook his head almost imperceptibly in exasperation. Naruto hadn't changed a bit.

Breaking the silence, Lelouch got back to business. "From this point on, Naruto is my first Lieutenant, as well as our field commander. His skills with a Knightmare will be invaluable to us. Also, due to the fact that his identity must remain secret to others, his codename shall be 'Raven'. I expect you to address him as such outside of our private conversations"

"Really? Just how good is he?" Kallen said, suddenly very interested.

"He took on, and overpowered the White Knightmare from Shinjiku"

Kallen's eyes widened in surprise and just a little bit of jealousy. If he could do that, then he was at the least equal in skill to her, and from what she could see from his Kightmare, she could guess that it was certainly on the same level as her Gurren Mrk. II.

"Now that introductions are taken care of, there is the matter of the repair of our units…"

--

Marcus Hawkins sighed as he sat in the guard booth of the Ashford academy gates. Today had been slow, as always. I mean, who would want to break into a school of all places? All his job consisted of was checking the passes of elevens or any other suspicious characters who wanted in, and send them away if they weren't in order. The elevens didn't cause much trouble around here, not like around the getto.

In other words, though he did get paid well, the job was still boring as hell.

''_sigh' maybe I should have enlisted like dad wanted. Then again, with all the Zero business that's been going on, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. But at least that might be more interesting then this job- wait whose that?'_

He was brought back to reality as he realized someone was approaching the gates. School had already been let out for the day, so the only people who should be coming were either faculty or those affiliated with the Ashfords. Like Lelouch and Nunnully Lamporage, who were living with the family who owned the school.

And this guy didn't look familiar at all to Marcus.

The boy looked to be around sixteen to seventeen years old, and though he looked to be an eleven, he certainly wasn't dressed like one. He was wearing the standard black school uniform, along with a large backpack. In his left hand and slung over his shoulder was a large briefcase. The teen looked to be an eleven, but as Marcus scrutinized his face further, that didn't seem so much the case. He seemed to have the appearance of someone of Britannian descent as well. So maybe he had Britannian and Eleven parents then?

Even so, the fact that Marcus had seen everyone that went to this school and this kid was not one of them warranted checking his papers. Afterall, he was pretty sure he'd never seen anyone with that kind of spiky blond hair his _life_, let alone anyone who went to the academy.

"Hey kid!" the man called out as the boy walked past the guard station, immediately getting his attention. The boy looked to him with a curious expression.

"I need to see your papers"

The boy seemed to take a minute to register this, before scratching the back of his head with a sheepish expression.

"Oh. Well you see…" he said with a guilty tone, which made Marcus cross his arms and scowl.

"Look you eleven" Marcus said, interrupting, "just because you're a half-breed doesn't mean you're any different from the other eleven scum. So unless you've got the papers to prove it, get out!"

"Well about that…" the blonde replied as he brought his hand away from his head, "You don't need to see my papers" he finished as he slowly waved his hand in front of him.

"I don't need to see your papers" Marcus replied monotonously. And it was true now that he thought about it. The boy was _absolutely_ right. Why would he need papers? He was _obviously_ a Britannian. His clothes proved that. And why would an eleven be trying to get into Ashford Academy anyway? The boy was _completely_ right.

"I'm free to come and go however much I like" the boy said again, waving his hand again.

"You're free to come and go however much you like" Marcus agreed.

"You want to go home and rethink your arrogant Britannian ways"

"I want to go home and rethink my arrogant Britannian ways"

Marcus Hawkins at this point immediately got up and walked out of the guard station, intending to do just that. The boy had made _such_ a valid point after all. I mean, the Britannian ways were _quite_ arrogant and self-centered. The argument the boy made just seemed _so_ _compelling_.

As the mindless guard left his post, Naruto chuckled to himself as he walked through the gates.

'_I just love doing that'_

--

Lelouch sighed as he shut down the computer in his room. It had been a long two days. First there was the battle at Narita and all of the wrap up afterwards which had taken all night. Then he had had a few tests that day as well, all of which he was pretty sure he hadn't done too well on. In short, he was about ready to hit the sack. He had seen neither hide nor hair of Naruto since the meeting too. The blonde had merely said that he had to 'tie up a few loose ends' and had left, leaving his Knightmare with them. It got Lelouch wondering just where Naruto was staying, something that wasn't very common for the blonde. He was quite the drifter apparently.

Lelouch continued to think and rethink the future plans for the Black Knights as he walked down the stairs. It was almost time for dinner after all. And Sayako's meals were certainly something he didn't want to miss. The woman was an amazing cook.

But as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he looked up in curiosity as the doorbell rang.

'_Odd. I wonder who that could be. Nobody from the student council said anything about needing to come over. And C.C. already got her pizza for the day, though with her I can never be too sure'_

Calling out to Sayako that he had it covered, Lelouch calmly strode over to the door to open it. In the past, he might have been a bit more paranoid about such an open maneuver, him being an exiled Britannian prince after-all, but with his Geass, he wasn't too worried.

Though his eyes widened slightly when he found that it wasn't one of his classmates or a pizza delivery person, but a grinning Naruto at his door.

"Yo"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he wondered briefly how Naruto had gotten a school uniform, but was quickly reminded that this was no normal human he was dealing with. Naruto had a penchant for surprising people.

"So, what's up?" Lelouch asked, his mind already beginning to formulate all the possible answers he expected from Naruto.

"Well what do you think? I need a place to crash for a while" Naruto replied nonchalantly as he walked in, carrying the large briefcase that Lelouch just noticed.

Said boy just shook his head. He had a feeling Naruto might do something like this. He did have a habit of mooching of other people for living arrangements. Rather like C.C. now that he thought about it. He also didn't care too much _where_ he had to sleep either if memory served.

But even then, Lelouch was a bit reluctant. He was already renting out the house to one roommate after all.

"Couldn't you just rent an apartment?"

"Yeah, I could. But then it'd be a lot harder for us to discuss strategies. The only other way we could meet would be at school, and I don't want Kallen getting suspicious" Naruto answered, turning to face his former student.

Lelouch could only nod in agreement. The other thing the blonde had a habit of doing was making a compelling argument.

"That, and how can I resist the prospect of free food?" Naruto finished with a grin.

'_And a habit for mooching off people whenever he can'_ Lelouch thought as he sweatdropped. His mentor certainly hadn't changed one bit. But he still had made a compelling argument, and then maybe C.C. would have someone other then himself to annoy.

"And in all seriousness, I did want to see how Nunnely was doing"

"Right" Lelouch answered as he closed the door, recalling that Naruto was quite fond of his little sister.

Telling Sayako to set another place for their 'guest', Lelouch led Naruto to the study where Nunnely was playing with C.C. Probably folding paper cranes like she loved to do ever since Sayako had taught her soon after they had moved in.

"Sayako? As in Sayako Shinozaki?" Naruto asked as they walked down the hall.

"Yes. You know her?"

"Not personally. But I have been keeping tabs on their heirs. I didn't think you'd have one working as your maid"

"And how are you affiliated with the Shinozaki clan anyway?" Lelouch had been long familiar with Sayako's heritage of being the heir to a great clan of ninjas. And she was quite skilled too. It was the primary reason the Ashfords had put him and Nunnely in her care.

"I started it. The shinobi style anyway"

Lelouch was now looking at Naruto, slightly agape. He kept forgetting just how _old_ Naruto really was. Though he could easily visualize Naruto doing something like that.

"Just how old are you anyway?"

Chuckling in amusement, Naruto answered.

"I'll tell you someday"

--

Nunnely Vi Britannia was having an enjoyable day.

Apparently, her older brother and C.C. had had some business to take care of and had not been around the day before. Today however, they had remained and she had had a nice time playing with C.C.

She still refused to believe that she _wasn't_ Lelouch's girlfriend as both had been so apt to inform her. The fact that she was living with him and how they always seemed to leave on 'business' made it obvious. And while she may not have been as smart as her older brother, Nunnely vi Britannia was no fool. It ran in their family, or so their mother had told her.

And now it seemed like they'd be having a guest over for dinner. She had heard Lelouch tell Sayako that they'd be having a guest, which made her extremely curious as to who it was. She hadn't heard anything about it earlier, and it was extremely rare for them to have a dinner guest at such short notice. The last time it had happened was a few month ago when Suzaku had come over, and Lelouch had only kept in the dark as a surprise.

"Lelouch, welcome back" she said as she heard the door open the distinct sound of two sets of feet step through, "So who's our dinner guest tonight?"

Nunnely became curious when Lelouch didn't answer, and even more so when she could faintly make out his chuckle. She then heard the soft steps of someone walking forward. She might have lost her sight, but her other senses had compensated to the point where she could still get an accurate description of what was happening in the room. And she could tell that whoever the other person was, they were now kneeling in front of her.

"It's been a while, Nunnely-chan"

Those words made the girl gasp in shock. The crisp, mirth filled voice she heard could only belong to one person. And only one person in her life had ever called her name with that suffix.

"N-Naruto?" she asked, hardly able to believe what she was hearing.

"Yeah. It's me"

"Oh this is wonderful!" Nunnely spoke up in happiness, "It's so good to hear from you again. I thought we'd never see you again"

"Yeah, it's good to see you too Nunnely-chan"

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well I ran into Lelouch and C.C. in Narita, and after we left, I thought I'd check up on you two. And I have some business in Tokyo so I thought I'd crash here for a while. I hope you don't mind" Naruto responded.

"Of course not. We'd love to have you staying with us. Right Lelouch?"

"Yeah. You mooching off us for a while. Just like old times eh, Naruto-_sensei_?" the dark-haired boy teased with a smirk.

"Hm. Well I certainly don't have a problem with it" C.C. spoke up, a bit miffed at being ignored by everyone.

But Lelouch had long forgotten that attempting to tease Naruto was just _asking_ for trouble, and C.C. didn't have any experience with the blonde at all.

"Oh? I'd say both of you owe me after that little _incident_ at Narita eh?"

Lelouch's eyebrows raised slightly. Just what was Naruto playing at? He knew that the blonde wasn't stupid enough to reveal their activities as the Black Knights to Nunnely. He had already told him that she was still in the dark. But before he could do anything, Nunnely's insatiable curiosity was perked.

"Hm? What happened at Narita?"

Lelouch then paled slightly as he caught the evil smirk on Naruto's face. He knew what was coming now, and he should have known not to tempt Naruto's prankster nature.

"Well… let's just say it involved those two, a secluded cave, a hot spring, and golden blackmail material if anyone other then me had seen 'em. In fact, it's thanks _to_ me that they weren't… interrupted you could say"

Now Lelouch had gone from pale to bright red in under two seconds. He _really_ should have known better. Even though known of what Naruto had been _implying_ had happened, all of the facts he had given were there. It had been the two of them, in a secluded cave, and the cave had had a hot spring in it if he hadn't been mistaken, and it was thanks to him that they knew Kallen was coming to find them and didn't blow Lelouch's cover as Zero. The only thing that hadn't been there had been the so-called 'Gold Black-mail material' Naruto had mentioned. Unless…

'_Damn. He did see my face flush'_

"Oh…" Nunnely spoke, her own face flushed slightly as the implications of what Naruto was saying pieced themselves together.

Now Lelouch was no stranger to this kind of teasing. Naruto had turned his relentless prankster and teasing nature on him multiple times during the two years the three of them were together (though never on Nunnely he had noticed), but it was still embarrassing. But it was then that Lelouch noticed the silver lining to his currant predicament. A rather big one at that.

C.C. was flushed as much as he was.

Now this had Lelouch making a dark and evil grin. He might not have _enjoyed_ being the subject of Naruto's merciless teasing, but if it could affect C.C. in a similar matter, that was a small problem. It was about time he saw his normally stoic accomplice squirm like that.

Naruto on the other hand, was observing both his new superior and his partner with a dark smirk of his own. A look that, had anyone had seen it, promised far more incidents like this.

'_Man, I don't think I EVER got that good of a reaction out of Lelouch before. And C.C.'s practically pulling a Hinata. Heh, and I thought Cornelia and Guilford were fun to mess with. The stoic emo's are ALWAYS the most fun to play matchmaker with. And the best part is it's actually part of the contract. Sweet'_

--

AN: Sorry if I seem to have ignored my own polling. I know most of you wanted me to have Naruto going to Ashford, but I found that the story just flowed better if he was known by some of the Black Knights other then Lelouch and C.C. And fear not, I might just find a way to have him going to Ashford as a student anyway, so everybody's happy.

And on the topic of Lelouch and C.C., yes Naruto is going to hook them up together. And the mysterious 'contract' Naruto mentioned? Well let's just say that'll be revealed later. And C.C. will be playing a much bigger role in the Black Knights. I might even give her a Knightmare at some point (and not just some random cannon fodder Akatsuki or Burai like she gets in R2).

Oh and Naruto's Black Knights outfit is basically Darth Revan's robes, hood and mask from KOTOR (from the cinematics of the game, not the ones you get on the Star Forge). And to anyone who also read the latest chapter of my 'Roku Naruto' fic, yes, I have gone a little Star Wars crazy. Blame Force Unleashed and my just beating KOTOR again.

Next Chapter: Naruto gets adjusted to life at Ashford, Lelouch and C.C. (try to) get adjusted to life with Naruto (teasing the hell out of them), and the physical training regimen from hell shall be released upon the world once again. And maybe some other stuff will happen too.

_Lelouch: PLEASE SOMEONE END THE PAIN!_

_C.C.: Heh heh heh. Oh crap! Now he's looking at me!_ (runs in fear)

_Naruto: MWHA HA HA HA HA HA HA!! __Fear the power of YOUTH!_ (chases C.C.)

You WILL Read and Review (waves hand Jedi style).


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"AHHHH"-Normal speaking

'_get out of my head!!'_-Normal thought

"_melon"_-Radio chat

**Chapter IV**

**The Spreading Shadows**

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"_Units 4-8. Report to sector 2A immediately. They need help with debris clearing"_

"_Deliver all bodies with recognizable features to tents 1-8. All others, deliver to tents 9-20"_

Suzaku Kuurugi sighed as he uncapped a water bottle, feeling relieved as he downed the cold liquid. He had been working to help the clean-up efforts around Narita almost non-stop ever since he had recovered from his ordeal during the pursuit of Zero, which was nearly sixteen hours ago. He had only stopped occasionally to get water, food or a few minutes of sleep, which was only when Lloyd and Cecile replaced the Lancelot's energy filler, which they were doing now.

Even though he had only participated in the final stages of the battle to take the JLF's main stronghold, the intensity of his sortie might have equaled that of any of the other pilots. He had not only charged up a landslide at top speed to save Viceroy Cornelia, but he had also engaged what was quickly being called by many of the soldiers who had participated in the battle; the Ace of the Black Knights. That strange red Knightmare that seemed on equal footing to the Lancelot, and with a pilot with skill to match his own. In fact, Suzaku was sure that the confrontation he had with that frame would have lasted a lot longer and done far more damage to both of them had he not been able to take advantage of the terrain around them like he did. Knocking the enemy frame into a ravine may have seemed like a cheap shot, but it was really only dumb luck in the first place that he had been able to accomplish that. By the time he realized what had happened, the red frame was already tumbling down the slope.

Then… there was the pursuit of Zero. Suzaku's memories of what had happened were still hazy. He could hardly remember what had happened after he had cornered Zero after destroying his custom Burai. All he could remember was that he and a pair of Purist faction Knightmares were attacked by a strange Knightmare. Suzaku was still unsure whether it was the red frame from before or another frame altogether. But considering that the machine had been able to destroy both the Sutherlands and incapacitate the Lancelot made Suzaku (as well as Cornelia and her top brass) assume that it was just that new 7th generation frame. That, and the fact that the Sutherlands had been destroyed by a sword slash and some kind of super-heated weapon (weapons that they knew the Red machine used) more or less confirmed their suspicions. However, Suzaku still had that inkling, that feeling in the back of his head, that it might have been something different.

But even then, that wasn't what really confused the honorary Britannian. It was that every time he tried to delve further, past the point where the first Sutherland was destroyed, all he could see was some great yellow eye, and feel incredible fear, and pain. After that, all he remembered was waking up in the Lancelot, Cecile's concerned voice coming over the com system. Frankly, it scared Suzaku a little. But he didn't have time to be concerned about that. He could mull over the events of the battle later. Right now he had a job to do, and brooding would only distract him.

"So… how are you holding up Suzaku?" came Lloyd Asplund's odd, slightly high-pitched voice.

"Oh, Yeah I'm fine Lloyd" Suzaku answered. "Hey, is it okay if I keep working? I want to keep help the recovery efforts if that's okay"

"Sure. Do what you like"

"Thanks" Sometimes he wondered whether or not the eccentric scientist really cared for him personally or only cared that his machine had a competent pilot. But it didn't really matter to Suzaku. Lloyd and Cecile still took care of him, as they were technically his legal guardians, the closest things he had to parents since his father died.

Suzaku suppressed a shiver at that thought. Cecile might have been quite nice and kind, but Lloyd? He'd rather not have someone like that even associated with the term 'father' in his case. Downing the last of the water, he spoke again.

"Hey Lloyd?"

"Hm?"

"The Black Knights… Just what do you think they're trying to achieve through all this?"

His boss/legal guardian raised an eyebrow and gave him an odd look as if the answer was obvious.

"Haven't you heard? They're Knights for justice"

That statement made Suzaku cringe as he crushed the now-empty plastic bottle in his hand, a new wave of disgust flowing over him.

"Is this justice? Is such mindless battle supposed to be considered _justice_?" he said in a low voice.

"Hey Hey! Don't tell me you're about to go blathering some embarrassing notion about the 'nature of Justice'" Lloyd spoke up, trying to calm the boy down. "We're soldier's remember? We're not supposed to be thinking about things like that"

The grim and morbid point his boss made seemed to snap Suzaku out of his brooding.

"Right… I guess"

"Suzaku" came Cecile Croomy's soft voice, even though she was speaking in a rather loud tone over the den of the work going on around them, "I've replaced the energy filler. You're good to go"

"Thanks Ms. Cecile" Suzaku said as he got up to walk over to the extension wire that hung from the Lancelot's cockpit, brightened by the prospect of something to take his mind off of the brooding over what the Black Knight's purpose was.

As the hatch of the cockpit closed and the Lancelot sped off to one of the clean-up 'hotspots', Lloyd approached his assistant and fellow scientist.

"Well Cecile?"

"I've confirmed it" she replied, bringing up a display on her monitor showing the remnants of several destroyed Knightmares. "It's a Radiant Wave Surger. No doubt about it"

"Fukushahado eh? I never thought Rakshata would work with terrorists. But I suppose that says just how little I knew her in the first place"

"Yes. That machine was undoubtedly hers. I think it might be that Gurren Mrk. II we heard about"

"I agree. And what of that 'other' matter?"

Cecile nodded as she brought up another picture, this one showing the two destroyed Sutherlands that were found with the Lancelot. One was sliced cleanly in half, while the other one had been completely destroyed.

"These are the two Sutherlands that were destroyed during the pursuit of Zero. The official report is that it was the Black Knight's new Knightmare frame"

"And your personal opinion?" Lloyd asked.

"Well… I think your theory might be right Lloyd. I don't think these Sutherlands could have been destroyed by the Gurren Mrk. II"

"Yes…" Lloyd affirmed as he looked at the pictures and the damage reports. "The reports indicate that the Red frame only had a small fork-knife as a melee weapon other then the Surger. I highly doubt such a small weapon could slice a Sutherland in half. So, do you think this is a custom model or is it another one of our dear rival's 'children'?"

Cecile seemed to become concerned as she answered. "Well that's the thing Lloyd, I don't think it's either of those. Look at this" she said as she pulled up a microscopic image of the Sutherland's sliced body. "The striations from the slice are far too small. And the cut was far too clean, even the damage done by the katana's on the custom Burais that Lord Guilford fought aren't this clear-cut. In fact, it almost looks like…"

"…Lancelot's MVS swords" Lloyd finished, his voice carrying a grave tone of its own. "So you're saying that whoever built this used _our_ MVS technology?"

Nodding, his assistant continued. "There's more. Look at the remains of the other Sutherland" with that, Cecile brought up a close up image of the other Sutherland, completely blown apart by some unknown force. "The official reports are saying that this was done by the Gurren Mrk. II's Fukushahado system, but now, I don't think that's the case" she finished as the image was magnified. Lloyd peered over her shoulder as he scrutinized the digital image.

"You're right. This doesn't look anything like the other Sutherlands that thing destroyed. The other machines were melted from the inside out and then exploded. Nothing on this Sutherland looks like that"

"Exactly. And when I was looking at the remains of the cockpit and drive core, I noticed something interesting"

"And that was?"

"They weren't there. Somehow, both the drive core and cockpit were completely vaporized _before_ the Sutherland exploded"

"So, then it was some kind of high-impact penetration weapon that caused an explosion" Lloyd deduced.

"Yes. And I think it was the weapon itself that blew the Sutherland up, not a ruptured drive core or energy filler like with the machines the Gurren destroyed. None of the other Knightmares in this battle were destroyed in anything like this manner. And there's one last thing too" Cecile affirmed as she brought up a microscopic image of what was once the inside of the chest area.

"This was one of the few areas that I could find on the machine that were bored through by the weapon. Notice anything familiar about the burn marks?"

Gazing at the image intently for a few seconds, Lloyd's eyes suddenly widened.

"Wha-What is this? That almost looks like… the burn marks from our Hadron testing… Cecile are you sure this image is right?"

"Yes I'm positive. And I agree with you" she answered as she brought up another image from their files, showing a burned metal plate. "The burn marks are almost identical to those formed by the Gawain's experimental Hadron cannons"

"So are you saying… That whoever built this mysterious frame, somehow stole our Hadron cannon technology, and converted it into a close-range weapon?" Lloyd asked, fixing his partner with a serious and piercing gaze that many would find out of place on his normally cheerful features.

"Yes" Cecile answered, not even flinching at the unnaturally serious tone and expression her boss was giving her. She understood fully just how serious this situation was.

"Then it's definitely not Rakshata. She's far too prideful to use any of my work in her machines"

"What should we do Lloyd?"

"Regardless of what we think, I doubt the Viceroy or her brass will take this seriously without any proof, and with the Lancelot's camera feed scrambled the way it was in that engagement, we don't have any proof they'll buy. Since our mysterious frame is obviously part of the Black Knights, we'll just have to wait until the next time they show their face"

"Lloyd… Do you think Suzaku would have a chance? I mean, one rival Seventh-gen Knightmare is bad enough, but two? And he was almost defeated by both of them individually. Do you think he would even stand a chance?"

"Against both of them? No. The next time the Black Knight's show up, he'll just have to engage them one at a time and hope his energy filler holds up" Lloyd answered in a morbid tone. Cecile took on a far more concerned one, but accepted that they really didn't have any other options.

"I just wish the second unit was operational, then maybe we could start looking for another pilot"

"Indeed"

'_Zero… I wonder what kind of a man he is…'_

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Throughout his sixteen years of life, Lelouch Vi Britannia had only felt true suffering and pain at the hands of one person.

Unfortunately for him… that person was back.

"Oh come on! They're only crunches. Come on ya pansy. You're only up to 135! We still got 165 left! Now let's go! 136… 137… FASTER! 138…"

'_Why did I make this guy my second in command?'_

Upon his entry into the Ashford household, Naruto had found it imperative that he check up on Lelouch's physical condition and his combat abilities, things he had helped to hone when Lelouch had been under his mentorship seven years ago.

Needless to say, Naruto had been disappointed when he saw how much Lelouch had been slacking off. So, the blonde had immediately suggested that they return to the training regimen he had set up for Lelouch seven years ago, upgraded for his age change. Of course, this meant that Lelouch was forced to experience the training course from the eighth circle of Hell.

Again.

Naruto had so far made Lelouch do an estimated 50 laps around the Ashford estate, 500 pull-ups, and now 200 crunches, and that had just been the warm up.

Make that the Ninth Circle of Hell, Lelouch thought. It was even worse then last time.

His torme-er… I mean 'Trainer' was currently standing a few feet away, giving the occasional encouragement (or at least that's what he thought it was). C.C. was further back, leaning against a tree, watching her accomplice's torture with barely veiled amusement.

The green-haired immortal had certainly seen some amusing things in her 500 years of undying life, but this certainly had to be one of the better ones. In the short time she had known him, C.C. had learned that Lelouch was a boy who always seemed to exercise perfect control over his world (an aspect perfectly mimicked by his Geass) and never lost his cool. And seeing him squirm like this was just too funny. Though there was one thing she was curious about.

"Hey Naruto"

"Hm?"

"Are you sure this isn't a bit much? I've seen people break under stress like this" C.C. asked as she walked up next to him. Not that she actually _cared_ about Lelouch personally. She just needed him to complete the contract and fulfill her wish, that was all. There was no personal concern she might have for him. No, not at all.

Unfortunately for her, Naruto had instantly detected the small amount of concern in her voice.

"Oh don't worry. He may not look it, but Lelouch can take a lot more then most people. He just needs the right training, which he should have been continuing"

C.C. gave him a look that said she wasn't convinced.

"Hey, give me some credit. I trained him like this seven years ago and he came out fine. I know what I'm doing. So don't worry. You're not going to loose you're boyfriend anytime soon"

C.C. instantly clinched her teeth at that as she fought to suppress a sudden redness in her cheeks.

"He's NOT my boyfriend"

She didn't know why this boy could get such a rise out of her. No one had been able to do that before! Somehow, he could get under her skin with hardly any effort, and it infuriated her! Somehow, she just couldn't keep up her cold and distant demeanor whenever he started teasing her about her relationship to his protégé. And Lelouch didn't seem to fare any better, well, he did actually seem to fare a little better. C.C. was slightly sympathetic if this was what he had to put up with for a whole year. She briefly mused if there was such a Geass ability as 'getting under someone's skin no matter who they are'.

"Sure he isn't" Naruto said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

After C.C. was finally able to recover from Naruto's latest assault, she asked him something.

"Why are you doing this anyway?"

"Well, Lelouch is the most important member of his organization, and he's not always going to have me or anyone else around to protect him, so he needs to be able to look after himself, and Geass can't always help him. Besides, shouldn't the leader set the example for his followers?"

Lelouch grimaced slightly as he overheard his mentor's words. This was what he hated and at the same time loved most about Naruto's way of thinking. As ridiculous as any of his schemes could be, in the end, they were perfectly logical and unarguable. But while that might be great for military operations, it also forced Lelouch to agree to his unholy training regimen from hell.

"You know…" Naruto began as a thoughtful expression formed on his face, "Isn't Lelouch planning on putting you as one of his top advisors in the Black Knights?"

"He's just doing it so he can keep an eye on me, but yes. We did plan on me joining, especially now that Kallen has seen us together. I'm supposed to be one of his advisors or something along with you" C.C. replied, not knowing what Naruto was getting implying.

Lelouch on the other hand, was fighting extremely hard not to adopt the wicked smirk on his face. In all his experience with Naruto, he knew with near certainty what was coming now.

"Alright… how good are you at combat?" Naruto asked, his tone serious.

C.C.'s eyebrows rose in surprise. She'd never bothered to do anything like that, being immortal had allowed her to be killed many times with no consequence. But at the same time, she was pretty sure she could hold her own in a fight with a normal person if she had too. "I suppose I'm okay" she spoke, not really sure where Naruto was going with this.

"Okay then" Naruto said as he turned to face her, motioning for Lelouch to stop, the boy having finally reached 200. "Punch me in the face"

"Huh?"

"You heard me. Punch me in the face. And as hard as you can too"

The witch wasn't sure what to make of this, but she didn't exactly have any reservations with hurting the blonde to begin with, so she simply pulled back her fist a hurled a punch at the blonde's face as hard as she could.

She didn't even see him move.

One instant, her clinched fist was hurtling towards his face, and the next he was holding it in his hand with next to no effort. Naruto's face was calculating as he held her in a near iron grip, as if trying to gauge her strength.

"Hm… yep"

"What?"

"Hey Lelouch!" Naruto yelled over to the panting teen, trying to regain what little stamina he could. "Good news! Look's like you've got a training partner"

"Wait… WHAT?!"

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"Uh… Naruto?"

"…"

"Naruto?"

"…"

"Naruto!"

"You have _'pant'_ to call him 'sensei'"

"'sigh'… Naruto-_sensei_?"

"Yes?" Naruto replied in such a tone that C.C. just _knew_ he had a wicked grin on his face.

"How many _'pant'_ more of these do _'pant'_ have to do _'pant'_?"

"Oh, just fifty more"

Both C.C. and Lelouch probably would have face-faulted at this had they been able to.

"Oh come on" Naruto yelled in indignation as he heard their groaning, "They're only push-ups! And I'm just having you do a hundred!"

'_Yeah, and they probably would be easy, were we not doing them under a ZODIAC!'_

And it was true. Naruto, in all his training _'brilliance'_, had decided that not only would Lelouch and C.C. be doing a hundred push-ups, but as an added challenge, they had to do them while supporting a large inflatable boat on they backs, along with their crazed teacher lounging on top. And what really made it so _brilliant_ was that neither of them could do anything about it, considering that they'd probably be squashed should they refuse to do them.

"'sigh'… Alright…" Lelouch muttered in defeat as C.C. did the same as they continued, they're counting becoming a mantra, "51… 52… 53… 54"

"FASTER!"

Normally, Lelouch might be plotting some kind of revenge, but he had long since learned that Naruto was not one to be trifled with. It had taken two weeks to get the paint out of his hair last time, and get his eyebrows back.

Through their exhaustion induced haze, Lelouch and C.C. could make out the sound of footsteps coming towards them. From the lightness of them, Lelouch knew that they were Sayako's. He briefly considered begging her to help them, but he remembered how she had always been just as disappointed in his lack of exercise, and was quite happy to see Naruto put him through some training.

"Oh, hey Sayako! Ah, I see it came"

"Yes, they just delivered this one, and I just finished making this too"

"Great. Thanks a lot" Lelouch was wondering just what the ninja-maid had brought his demented teacher when C.C. spoke up.

"Hey, what _'pant'_ is that _'pant'_?"

"Oh just some more motivation for the both of you"

"Huh?" Lelouch wondered, then he heard the opening of a cardboard box, and a _very_ familiar smell wafted through his and C.C.'s nostrils.

'_Oh… crap'_

"Gotta say C.C., you certainly have good taste in Pizza" Naruto said, his words muffled by the food he was chewing.

Said girl meanwhile, was starting to twitch erratically.

"Stuffed crust… extra cheese… olives, mushrooms, heck all the toppings really…"

Now she was foaming at the mouth.

Beside her, Lelouch was torn between fear of what the crazed girl next to him was about to do, and curiosity as to what Naruto had meant by motivation for 'both of them'.

"…and Sayako's pudding is delicious too"

The former prince's eyes widened as he desperately fought to suppress the erratic twitching.

'_No… I got over it… I don't need it, I'm cured damn it! ...but… so good… so tasty… NOOOO…'_

Naruto smiled to himself as he was nearly thrown off the Zodiac as it began to bounce up and down erratically, the pizza box and pudding held tightly in his grip as he continued to eat, almost oblivious to the frantic efforts of his students to complete his task so they could get some for themselves.

"That's more like it"

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"Well, I suppose that went well" Naruto said as the trio walked through the gates to Ashford. The three companions were walking a bit faster then normal, considering the rain falling around them. Lelouch and C.C. were each carrying umbrella's while Naruto simply wore a large hooded trench-coat with the hood pulled up. The rain had never bothered him much.

"Indeed" Lelouch replied, one of his confident smirks adorning his face. C.C.'s own remained impassive. It seemed like they had quite easily forgiven him for putting them both through hell the other day.

But at the same time, he could understand Lelouch's satisfaction. With the backing of such a powerful group like Kyoto, the Black Knights certainly were moving up on the power-chain very quickly. And they had also gained a powerful ally in the form of Lelouch's old friend Kaizo Kirihara, now one of the handful that was aware of Zero's true identity.

He had to say, the old man certainly was a sly one. Playing as a double agent certainly wasn't easy, Naruto knew this first-hand.

And as an added bonus, they were able to flawlessly introduce C.C. to their comrades as Zero's top advisor next to himself, though Naruto could tell many of them were unconvinced that this was her _only_ role to Zero. Tamaki seemed to be especially suspicious.

'_Seriously, can he think with anything _other_ then his hormones when it comes to women? Guess not'_

Naruto then chuckled to himself at the irony of that statement, considering how true their comrades suspicions about his companions would be once the blonde was through with the two of them.

"Well, I'll see you two later. I have to get to classes" Lelouch spoke as he began walking off.

"Right then, see ya" Naruto replied as he and C.C. headed off towards the house.

'_Hm… This rain feels ominous… I wonder why?' _

Lelouch had been thinking (almost) the exact same thing as Naruto. The meeting with Lord Kirihara had gone exactly as planned. With Kyoto's backing, their organization would gain even more reputation among the other terrorist groups around Japan. The larger groups would look to them as allies, and smaller groups would be more inclined to join their ranks. And since the Japanese Liberation Front was quickly on the decline after Narita, the Black Knights could emerge as the main power fighting against Britannian oppression in Japan.

Right now though, he had a bit more pressing issues. He did have to apologize to Shirley for not being able to make it to the movie after all.

He stopped for a moment as he saw someone standing on the path in front of him.

'_Wait… Isn't that Shirley?'_

And it was his classmate. But not like he had ever seen her before. Normally in such a situation, she would be delighted to see him, running up to him while yelling a greeting. But this time, she just stood there, as if oblivious to the world around her. She didn't even have an umbrella or a jacket on. She just stood there, her orange hair falling in front of her face.

"Hey! Shirley" Lelouch called to her as he walked up. "Why aren't you in class, and shouldn't you have an umbrella? You'll catch a cold out here"

Nothing. Not even a 'hello' or some other greeting.

"Shirley?"

"He… He's dead" she whispered, her voice shaky as she glanced up to him.

"What?" Lelouch asked, not sure what he had just heard.

"M-My father… he's dead"

Her head rose to face him slowly, the rain on her face mixing with her tears. Lelouch's own eyes widened, then softened with sympathy. He certainly knew and could relate to that.

"I'm sorry" he whispered back, his own head lowered. He hadn't known the girls father, but he knew that she always looked up to him, him being in the army and all.

But the weeping girl didn't even seem to notice what he said as she spoke again.

"H-He was killed… At Narita… by Zero"

Now Lelouch's eyes really did widen.

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It was still raining the next day at his funeral.

Shirley and her family all stood around the hole as the casket was lowered and the priest spoke. Milly, Rivalz and the rest of the student council along with Suzaku and Kallen stood back, ready the comfort their friend, their heads bowed in sympathy. Lelouch stood further back, his own head held low, but his eyes obscured. He was still trying to comprehend what had happened.

And the girl's father hadn't just been killed in battle, the man had been killed by the landslide _he_ had caused. _He_ had killed Shirley's father. Lelouch had always known he would have the blood of countless souls on his hands, and had made peace with that, or so he had thought. Killing someone was one thing, seeing the grieving of their family was quite another.

As the wooden casket was entombed, Shirley returned to the company of her friends. Milly and Rivalz were the first to reach her, giving her comforting words to try to ease her pain. Had Lelouch been watching, he might have been comforted by the fact that Shirley seemed to have made peace with her father's death and looked a lot better then she did when the funeral started, but he wasn't. Then Suzaku spoke, his voice dripping with disgust.

"It's all their fault. The Black Knights"

Everyone but Lelouch looked to him, surprised slightly but none seemed to disagree. Kallen was about to speak out, but thought better of it and held her tongue.

"Zero just slaughters countless people, then sits back and congratulates himself. And all in the name of his demented sense of justice! Just what is this supposed to accomplish? All this mindless battle and slaughter?"

Kallen lowered her had as she sighed. She knew that the road to their freedom would be paved with blood, she just wished it wasn't the blood of her friends or their family. But she couldn't stop. If she was willing to give her own life for Japan, she should be willing to give others' lives too.

Lelouch on the other hand, didn't have the luxury of such conviction. The sad fact was… he could find no fault with Suzaku's statement. He was a murderer. A terrorist. It had been by his hand that Shirley's father had died. He wasn't doubting himself, or his mission. But did it have to come at such high a cost?

No one noticed as he slipped away, they were too engrossed in comforting Shirley. Lelouch didn't go far, he just walked over to the edge of the woods surrounding the cemetery. Leaning against a tree, he tried to have some time to collect his thoughts.

But he couldn't. All he could think about was Shirley's and Suzaku's words echoing in his head. How this was _his_ fault. Thirty minutes later, everyone, even Shirley, had left, leaving Lelouch alone in the rain. Or so one might think.

The dark-haired teen didn't even move as he heard the soft steps on the wet grass approach him.

"It's not easy. If I knew this would happen, I would've helped prepare you. I'm sorry" Naruto said as he leaned against a tree next to Lelouch facing towards the boy's, his gaze following Lelouch's to the fresh grave. The blonde's voice was soft, and apologetic. His expression was one of sympathy and regret, something not normally found on his normally cheerful face.

Lelouch didn't reply, and Naruto didn't speak again. They just stood their. The only sound being the rain around them.

After a few minutes, Lelouch finally spoke.

"How do you do it?" he asked in a near-whisper, his head still hung low as he glanced to his mentor.

Naruto sighed as he answered, as if regretting he had to say it. "This is why soldiers are taught to abandon their emotions. Morals and idealism have no place on the battlefield"

Lelouch simply turned his gaze back to the cemetery as his mind finally began to work its way around what Naruto had said.

"What must I do?"

Naruto smiled softly. The Lelouch he knew was finally coming around.

"What are you fighting for?" he asked.

Lelouch was surprised for a moment, but then he remembered that this was how Naruto conveyed many of his points.

"To find the truth of my mothers death, To save the world from my father's and Britannia's tyranny, and to create a world where Nunnely can be happy"

Naruto nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Then until that task is completed, you should forget about all but the second one"

Lelouch's eyes widened slightly as he glanced to Naruto, wondering what the blonde meant by that, but at the same time his mind was beginning to understand.

"You must not include your heart in this battle if you wish to keep your sanity. Bury your personal feelings, and concentrate on your greater goal. You must fight for something greater then yourself, if you wish win"

Lelouch nodded slowly, the logic slowly coming to him. Idealism did have no place on the battlefield. Including his heart in the battle would leave it open to being hurt. So to guard his heart from the fires of war, he would have to lock it away. Lelouch smiled softly to himself as he realized something else. He probably knew that all along, it just took Naruto, his voice of reason in all this chaos, to remind him.

On the other tree, Naruto smiled back as he saw the affirmation and conviction spread on Lelouch's face. Looking to the sky, Naruto's smile grew slightly as he saw the rain clouds start to disperse, and sun shined through. The sun's rays had always filled him with warmth. He wondered whether this was because of… _her_.

However, as they both stood up and began walking back to Ashford, Lelouch was oblivious of Naruto's gaze hardening as the blonde looked to where Suzaku had stood.

'_War truly is a terrible thing Lelouch. I just hope you'll be better prepared then I was'_

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And there we go.

We get a little more insight on Naruto's frame, and Lelouch gets the full brunt of his actions.

Kind of weird I know, having the hilarious torture/training scene followed by a morbid death scene, but I didn't have much of a choice since I was too lazy to do the meeting with Kirihara. Also, credit for the 'Lelouch addicted to pudding' idea goes to So Guhn's one-shot 'The Misplaced Competition' (which is quite funny too). There, I've given the credit where its due. (So put down the pitch-forks and torches. Please?)

And to those of you who don't know what a Zodiac is, it's a small inflatable raft used around ships (it's what you see Navy Seals and other special forces using on TV). Look it up on Google if you don't know.

Next chapter: The JLF make their final stand, Zero's identity is revealed to a most unlikely individual, and another Geass user enters the fray (of course, there'll be plenty of things that DIDN'T happen in canon too).

Read and Review.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"AHHHH"-Normal speaking

'_get out of my head!!'_-Normal thought

"_melon"_-Radio chat

**Chapter V**

**Clashing Powers**

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Not many people wandered the streets of the Tokyo settlement after dark at 11:00 pm. Especially not many Britannians. Even though they were in control, many still feared gangs of the former Japanese that prowled the streets, or so many were fed to believe. And thanks to the curfew on numbers, the streets of the settlement outside of the more urban areas were usually disserted.

However, as with all precedents, there are exceptions. And one of them was currently wandering through one of the parks dotted about the area.

The man was in his late twenties, and was garbed in slightly odd clothing. Over a non-descript pair of pants and shirt, he wore a large white trench-coat, along with gray leather gloves. His hair was a pale whitish-silver, and fell around his head in a random and messy fashion, along with a bit sticking up above his forehead. Finally, his eyes were obscured by a thick visor that seemed to reach around his entire head.

He liked being out here at night. Far less noise with everyone inside sleeping. And those he did find were usually quite interesting to look into. Much like the man he was currently following. The man had been a Britannian, involved in the media from what he could hear, and of rather high standing too. Which made it all the more interesting since he could also glean that the man was off to join the Black Knights.

A Britannian? Joining a Japanese terrorist organization? Would wonders never cease?

Apparently, his target was off the meet a contact. He didn't know exactly were he was going, but he was a drifter by nature anyway.

His thoughts were broken as he heard a soft 'mewing' sound. Glancing down, the young man saw a small brown cat looking up at him with what he assumed was a curious expression.

"Why hello there" he said with a small smile as he bent down so he could get a better look, "What are you doing out here hm?" The cat had a small tag on its collar. Maybe he would return it if he had some time, or wasn't too lazy.

He may not have been a cat lover, but he did find the small creatures nice. Extending a hand, he tried to pet the small creature on the head.

That was when it bit his finger.

"Gah!" he yelled in pain as he recoiled. The cat's teeth had been quite sharp and had broken the skin.

Then it jumped on his face.

"AHHHH" he yelled in pain as he ran around in random circles, trying to get the cat off his face as it proceeded to maul him.

Meanwhile, Deithard Reid was securing the blindfold around his eyes as the Black Knights operative led him into the car, then got into the drivers seat himself.

"It'll be about an hour drive if you're wondering"

Deithard nodded, not at all annoyed at the blindfold. He understood that they needed to take precautions, and it was a small price to pay for meeting and working with the infamous Zero.

"Thank you, Sir Knight" he replied jokingly. The fact that an anti-Britannian terrorist group would go around calling themselves 'Knights' had always held a bit of humorous irony to him.

The man in the driver's seat seemed to share those thoughts as he gave a quick laugh.

"Please, call me Naruto"

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Lelouch's eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized his newest recruit. He was currently perched atop a stack of crates in an abandoned warehouse that served as their forward command center for this operation. To his right stood Naruto, garbed in his full cloak, armor and mask. To his right stood C.C. in civilian clothes. All around them were several Burais (his custom model among them) as well as the Musashi and Gurren Mrk. II directly behind him.

At the base of the crates was the command crew of their organization, Ohgi, Kallen, Tamaki, Inoue and the rest, as well as a few guards. Said guards were currently surrounding, and had their guns trained on, the aforementioned recruit, who to his credit, hadn't even flinched yet.

"Zero… are you sure about this?" Ohgi spoke up, he being the highest ranking member of the Black Knights under Zero, C.C. and Naruto. "I mean, I know we should accept whatever help we can get but-"

"That's enough Ohgi" Lelouch interrupted. He didn't have time to hear any suspicions about their new recruit being Britannian. The Black Knights were not confined to Japanese. Any could join, regardless of nationality, as long as they served the ideals that the Knights upheld. "He's already proven his loyalty. Were it not for the information he gave us, we wouldn't be able to set up this operation. Deithard was it?"

"Yes" the man before him answered. "From what I found, Cornelia and her forces will ambush General Katasei and the remainder of the JLF as they try to escape with their liquid Sakuradite"

"Right. Ohgi, begin our final preparations. We have four hours before the JLF depart; we need to be ready when Cornelia makes her move. And get him a uniform too"

Nodding in acceptance, Ohgi turned to the others and began giving out orders.

"Hey, Zero" Kallen spoke up as Lelouch turned from them "I was wondering-"

"Later Kallen. I have some things to take care of. Whatever it is, it can wait" Lelouch interrupted as he, Naruto and C.C. jumped from the crates.

"Are you sure about this?" Naruto whispered as they left the building. He was about to head out to scout the Britannian positions while C.C. was simply going to wait around. "The JLF could prove to be a valuable ally"

"No. The JLF is already finished as is, and they will provide the perfect bait for Cornelia's troops. Their attention is focused completely on them, giving us the element of surprise" Lelouch replied as they made their way to the van. "Besides, we already have Kyoto on our side, and once Katasei and the rest of the JLF are out of the way, we will be the only major players in the anti-Britannian movement in Japan. Plus, Tohdou and the Shisei-ken will have no choice but to join us. It may be morbid, but this is war, and such sacrifices are necessary for the greater good"

Naruto nodded as they reached the van. "Yeah, I know all that. Just checking to see that your head was in the right place"

Lelouch paused at the door to the van, "Suzaku's idealism might have merit, but such ideals would only have true value in an ideal world"

"Which we don't live in"

"Exactly"

"Well, see you later" Naruto said with a mock salute, "I'm going to make some final adjustments to the Musashi, then I'll go do some recon on the Britannian positions"

"Watch yourself out there" Lelouch cautioned as he nodded.

"You too, I can't imagine its easy swimming down there"

With that, they parted ways, C.C. already gone… Somewhere

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It was impossible. There was just no way he could have done such a thing. No way he could be caught up in something like this.

These were the thoughts going through Shirley's head as she wandered the docks, remembering what the women, Villeta she was pretty sure her name was, had told her. She had said that Lelouch, Lulu, the quiet boy she so secretly adored, was part of the _Black Knights_? Working under Zero? Was he really one of the people that had killed her father?

'_No… It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Lelouch wouldn't get involved in something like this'_

She had overheard Lelouch talking about doing something in the Tokyo docks, so she had snuck over here to see what it was, hoping she could confront him about what the woman had told her. True, it couldn't be very safe around here at 3:30 in the mourning, but she just couldn't wait. She _had_ to know. Was Lelouch, her Lulu (or so she so desperately hoped) really working with the terrorists who killed her father?

Hiding a ways behind the confused and distraught girl, Villeta Nu gave a look of confirmation.

'_I knew it! I knew this girl could lead me here. I just need to wait, and hopefully, she'll find that boy. He's the only link I know of to Zero. And I know he can alter a person's memory'_

The normally dispassionate soldier allowed a rare smirk to spread across her lips.

'_Lord Jeremiah, I won't let your death be in vain. Your honor, and my own, will be restored soon'_

With that she sat back against the crate she was hiding behind. She could afford to bide her time. Shaking her head, she shook off a sudden wave of dreariness, she had felt quite dizzy all of a sudden. But it was gone now.

'_I really should have gotten more sleep last night. I can't afford to doze off now'_

Villeta's eyes perked up as she heard the distant footsteps moving. Glancing around the corner, she could see the girl moving again. She was walking down one of the alleys between the warehouses further down the line. Moving from her position, Villeta ran down the alley she was in and waited at the other end. Her assumptions were confirmed when the girl emerged from the alley and walked further down the line of buildings.

Then Villeta noticed something very interesting. The girl was on her cell phone. And judging by her walking, she was agitated and possibly frightened.

'_Could he have made contact with her? Even so, I need to get closer'_

With that, Villeta carefully made her way down the line at a faster pace, careful to keep to the shadows, and make her footsteps as light as possible. Thankfully, the girl seemed to be too engrossed in her conversation to notice her.

Suddenly, Shirley broke into a run, running down towards one of the wharfs.

'_Damn, I can't lose track of her!'_

The Britannian officer quickly broke out into a run, trying desperately to the girl in sight, and keep herself from being spotted. Again though, the girl's attention seemed to be focused solely on her phone. Villeta could just make out her saying _'Lelouch'_ as well.

'_Bingo!'_

As she reached the wharfs, Shirley took a left and Villeta lost sight of her. Breaking into a sprint, the woman made it to the edge of the wharfs in just a few seconds.

Glancing around, her eyes widened as she noticed that the young girl was nowhere in sight.

'_Damn, where is she?'_

"Right where you left her"

Villeta spun just enough to see a flash of blonde hair. Then the silenced round tore thought her, her vision darkened, and she blacked out.

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'_It's almost time'_ Lelouch thought to himself, already suited in his Zero attire and sitting in the cockpit of his custom Burai. His machine, as well as the Gurren Mrk. II and 28 other Burais were packed into a high-speed transport hydroplane that would quickly get them across the bay to Cornelia's position.

On the pier next to the ship saw the Musashi, its cockpit open as it awaited its pilot. Lelouch noted that Naruto had apparently made some adjustments to the frames structure since Narita. The most major change seemed to be that the landspinners were gone. The new mobility system Naruto had devised would make his role invaluable in this operation.

Even so, Lelouch's lips twitched slightly as he noticed that Naruto still hadn't arrived. With the rate the Royal Marines were closing on the JLF ship, they wouldn't have much longer until the opportunity to strike arose. He was about to call again, when the blonde suddenly appeared, running down the wharf at a sprint. With nigh-unnatural skill, he quickly climbed up and into his custom Knightmare, closing the cockpit and opening a radio channel.

"What took you?"

"_Sorry. I had to take out a straggler. Don't worry, I don't think we've been compromised"_ Naruto replied over the radio.

His words made Lelouch tense, but there was no time to back out now. The marines had already reached the ship and were climbing aboard, slaughtering the crew with the help of cover fire from the Britannian land positions.

'_Almost time'_ Lelouch thought as he fingered the detonator that he held in his hand and rebuked Ohgi's concerns about helping the JLF. _'Just a little more'_

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'_This isn't battle. This is wholesale slaughter'_

These were Suzaku's thoughts as he continued to snipe the JLF soldiers on top of the JLF tanker in the Lancelot alongside the Sutherlands.

"_We surrender! We surrender! Please, we surren-AHH!"_

Suzaku's eyes widened as he opened a channel to General Dalton.

"Sir, their sending a surrender message over an open channel. Shouldn't we res-"

"_Ignore it. Focus on your mission Warrant Officer Kururugi"_

"But sir, they're-"

"_That's an order soldier! Did I make myself clear?"_

Suzaku grimaced.

"Yes… My lord"

He knew that Zero's methods were evil, but sometimes he had to wonder if Britannia was any better. This why he fought, to ascend through the ranks so he could change things. Peacefully.

In the control tower above that served as a command center, Lloyd and Cecile looked on, having just overheard Suzaku's conversation with the General.

"I can see how he's so reluctant. I mean, this hardly classifies as a battle. It's more like a massacre" Cecile spoke, obviously sympathetic to their pilot.

"Yes, but its not like we can do anything about it. But, there is the chance things might get a little more interesting" Lloyd replied, his eyes focused on the combat scanner field that showed the positions of all of their units.

"You mean the Black Knights?" Cecile asked, now curious. They really didn't have to worry about being overheard here. They were the only ones up here anyway. Everyone else was either down there shooting or waiting for deployment.

"I may not be a combat analyst, but from what I've seen so far, I doubt Zero would want to pass up a chance to get Cornelia. And he's already proven to have an incredible information network. Just look at Narita"

"Is that your gut instinct or just hoping they'll show up so you can get a look at their new frame?" Cecile asked, a knowing smile on her face.

"Heh, it's a little bit of both I suppose"

Cecile shook her head, but she had to admit, she was a bit hopeful herself for the same reason. While she might not be as eccentric as Lloyd, she was just as fascinated with Knightmares as her boss was. And this mysterious new frame had intrigued just as much as it had him.

Both were broken from their thoughts as an alert sounded on the scanner.

"Hm… looks like the JLF are trying to make a run for it. Well, if Zero is going to make a move, I'd say it'll be soon"

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"_Zero! The JLF are moving out. Shouldn't we help them?"_

"No Ohgi" Lelouch replied. "Not yet. The Britannians aren't very smart you know"

"_Huh?"_

"They have to be careful around that liquid Sakuradite"

With that he pushed the big red button.

Underneath the JLF tanker, unseen and unknown to all but three people, a large bomb hung suspended under the water. As the electrical signal reached it, the bomb reacted, exploding with incredible force. The shockwave rippled upward, rupturing the bottom of the tanker's hull and striking the extremely volatile liquid Sakuradite.

The results were tremendous to say the least.

The pinkish fluid reacted instantly, igniting and bursting outward with enormous force. The tanker seemed to bulge and glow, they exploded in a great reddish-pink burst of energy.

The royal marines were vaporized instantly as heat tore through them. The shockwaves shot across the bay in all directions, blowing up waves and stirring up gale-force winds. The Britannian forces held on for dear life as the shockwave blasted them. A few of the Sutherlands were even blown away.

"_Wha-What the…?"_ Ohgi stammered. The Black Knight's position was far enough away, and so the initial shockwave had dissipated by the time it reached them.

"We don't have time to dwell on it! Now's our chance!" Lelouch yelled, trying to keep the satisfaction of his plan working out of his voice. "All units, deploy! Raven, move!"

"_Yes, my lord!"_ Naruto replied with a wicked grin on his face as he hit the throttle to full. The Musashi reacted immediately, leaping forward into the air and landing on the water. As it did, a massive blast of water was shot up as the thrusters on its legs and feet activated, blowing the water away. And with that, the black and red frame was off, shooting across the water like a rocket, the hydroplane hot on its heels.

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Cecile's eyes widened as she looked at the combat scanner field from a computer screen, the main table-like screen had been shorted out by the EMP created by the Sakuradite blast.

"Lloyd! Take a look at this!"

The eccentric scientist was immediately at her side, looking over her shoulder at the two new contacts racing across the bay. One was large, probably a high-speed transport, but the other…

"Lloyd… is that what I think it is?"

The white-haired man simply grinned slightly.

"Can you bring up a visual?"

"Yes. I think some of the cameras are still working" Cecile replied as she started typing in a command. "But if this is who we think it is, we have to warn Her Highness and General Dalton!"

"No can do" Lloyd replied with a semi-sheepish expression "The blast knocked out all the radios. We can't do a thing except watch it seems"

His assistant's eyes widened, but then settled back as she realized the truth of his words, even if she worried for Suzaku if what their hunch was right.

Whatever worry she felt was replaced with shock as the magnified image came up showing a medium-sized hydroplane shooting across the bay, and out in front was… a Knightmare?

"Lloyd… do you think…?"

"Yes!" the scientist replied in near-glee as he saw it, "It seems our mysterious new friend is back. And it looks like Zero isn't too far behind" he remarked as he noticed the custom Burai in the hydroplane.

The black and red frame was moving swiftly towards the Britannian position, even faster then the hydroplane. As it neared, the Britannian's still oblivious to the imminent attack, it reached to its right thigh to draw a weapon.

The machine gun was large then any carried by the Sutherlands. It looked to be even slightly bigger the Lancelot's VARIS. It was painted a matching black and red to the machine, and with large blades emerged on both the top and bottom of the barrel, it almost resembled a large sword of some kind.

"Well, keep a camera trained on that thing Cecile. The most we can do right now is collect as much data on that thing as we can"

"Right"

'_Well, I guess things are getting even more interesting'_

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Naruto smirked as he pulled the trigger on the control yoke, the targeting reticile on a pair of Sutherlands struggling to get up.

"Surprise"

The gun let loose with a hail of fire. The Sutherland pilots looked up just in time to see the approaching machine as their own machines were shredded to pieces before their drive cores were ruptured and exploded.

"_Jenkins! Johnson!"_ a nearby pilot cried out as he saw his comrades shredded by… something. Most of their sensors had been messed up by the blast, either by the EMP or the shockwave simply damaging their factspheres. Add in the fact that it was still pitch black at night and the low mist that the extreme heat had picked up meant that they could hardly see a thing out on the water.

"_Sir, Jenkins and Johnson were just-"_ the lone pilot was cut off as he saw a dark mass leap off the water, some kind of glowing orb in its hand. Then, with a blast from its boosters, the Musashi was upon him, the dark red sphere of energy shoved into the torso, vaporizing the pilot, then destroying the Sutherland.

Naruto quickly withdrew the arm as the enemy machine exploded. He had to admit, combining the Hadron technology with the Fukushahado system wasn't easy, but the result was probably one of the most powerful close-range Knightmare weapons yet. And there was definitely something nostalgic about the weapon, hence why he had given the system such a name. And that name was, Rasengan. Nostalgic indeed.

His enemy scanner went off as he looked to his left to find more Sutherlands taking aim at him. He'd probably have to clear draw their fire for a little bit while the others landed, which would be in about 10 seconds anyway. Then, while Lelouch and Kallen nabbed Cornelia, he and the rest of the team was to simply destroy as many enemies as they could, and take care of any variables Lelouch hadn't counted on.

And if there was one thing Naruto enjoyed, it was mindless carnage.

As the Sutherlands opened fire, he responded accordingly. The Musashi's foot boosters activated, allowing him to gracefully shoot backwards, strafing back and forth to dodge their fire. Reaching down, he grabbed one of the Sutherlands' discarded rifles with his free hand.

Returning fire, he shredded a few of the machines as they continued to pursue him, only to be squashed as the hydroplane hit the shore at full speed, shooting up, onto and across the wharf, smashing through anything in its path as it continued on about 100 yards until finally coming to a stop.

"Wow. Subtle" Naruto said over the com-link to Lelouch in a sarcastic tone.

Not waiting for a reply, he sped off again. Ducking and weaving around the buildings, spinning around in circles, and even jumping on top of and over a few, he blasted as many enemy frames as he could as the rest of the Knightmares deployed from the hydroplane.

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Lelouch shook his head at Naruto's sarcasm before shouting out orders as the doors opened.

"Blue Team, take the east side! Green Team, take the wharfs! Red team, take the warehouse area! Gurren Mrk. II, you're with me!" he yelled as he sped out of hydroplane.

A chorus of 'Yes sir!' sounded over the com frequency as the Knightmares rushed out. Kallen followed right behind him.

Lelouch gave a satisfied smirk as he sped into one of the warehouses to find Cornelia's custom Gloucester, still trying to power up.

'_Perfect'_ Lelouch thought as he sped forward, smashing into the still-inert frame, propelling them both through the back wall.

"Damn it!" was all the princess could say as she tried to move her machine. "Before I even had time to power on?!"

The custom Burai in front of her drew a machine gun and opened fire, fully intent on turning her unit to scrap.

To her relief though, her Gloucester finally powered on, and she quickly maneuvered the machine, barely dodging the barrage.

"Now you DIE!" she screamed in anger, drawing the massive lance from the machine's back and rushing her opponent.

Zero's machine seemed unready for it as he dodged to the right, but not fast enough as the lance tore the Burai's left arm off.

"Hah! You can't beat me in Knightmare combat you amateur!" Cornelia yelled over her machine's loud speaker, taunting her opponent. Zero had made a mistake challenging her, and now he would PAY! With that thought she rushed him again, fully intent on skewering his inferior machine like a knife through meat.

Only for the spear to be stopped by a massive clawed hand grabbing it.

"Maybe not" Zero's voice came over his own speaker, "But she can"

With that, the area was enveloped in a soft red light as the Gurren reduced Cornelia's prized weapon to a hulk a molten slag.

"Damn, its that new machine again!" Cornelia grimaced as she let go of the weapon and tried to fall back. She knew that nothing short of the Lancelot could beat that thing. She had underestimated it at Narita, and had nearly paid the price for it. She just hoped the white Knightmare could get here in time.

Unfortunately for her though, the red machine was faster then she predicted.

Shooting forward, Kallen brought her fork-knife up with her machine's left hand and effortlessly cleaved the Gloucester's right arm off. And with a well placed kick, the purple machine was sent flying back, slamming into a stack of containers further back.

Kallen and Zero moved forward, quickly approaching the downed frame.

"Remember, we have to taker her alive" Lelouch said into his head set.

"_Right"_ Kallen replied as the Gurren shot its slash harken out, fully intent on blowing off the Gloucester's legs.

Until a familiar greenish burst of energy hit the projectile, vaporizing it.

"What?!" Lelouch said aloud, but already knowing who it was that did it.

"_Viceroy!"_ Cornelia looked up to see the Special Corp's prized Knightmare standing on top of the row of containers to her left, the VARIS rifle clutched in it's hands _"Are you alright?"_

"Kallen, take care of the Lancelot! I can handle things here!"

"_Yes sir!"_ the red-head replied without hesitation as she leapt up to engage her rival Knightmare, the Fukushahado arm already primed and glowing.

Thought the white frame was able to block the attack with one of its swords, it was still knocked back, both machines falling into the next container area, continuing their duel.

Within his damaged machine, Lelouch could only smirk. Cornelia was in no position to do anything, and Kallen could handle the Lancelot. But even so, it didn't hurt to be careful.

"Naruto?" Lelouch said as he opened the private channel to his first Lieutenant, "What's you're status?"

Lelouch could honestly say he wasn't too surprised when he heard insane cackling laughter on the other end of the line.

"_WOO! This is the most fun I've had since Thermopylae! Whaddya need boss?"_ Lelouch was pretty sure he could hear the smashing of metal and gunfire in the background too.

Ignoring the implications of that statement, Lelouch spoke, "I need you to head back here. Kallen's fighting the Lancelot and we've incapacitated Cornelia. My machine's damaged so I need you back here to help me get Cornelia out of here, or at least help Kallen out if she needs it"

"'_sigh' Fine. I'll be right there"_

Lelouch shook his head at the disappointment in Naruto's voice. He had forgotten how… crazy… Naruto could get sometimes. And had he said _Thermopylae_? But right now, he had bigger things to worry about.

"You fought well, Viceroy Cornelia" he said with a smug expression over the loudspeaker so she could hear him, "But ultimately, a futile effort"

With that he raised his machine gun, still clutched in his right hand, intending to completely immobilize her Knightmare so he or Naruto could cart her out of here.

But right as he was about to fire, his thermal camera saw something. Someone else was there, peering out from behind the container Cornelia had landed against. And it almost looked like…

'_Shirley?'_

But unfortunately for him, Cornelia sensed his hesitation, and advantage of it.

With the slightest pause, she moved her machine as fast as it would go to the left. Knocked from his thoughts, Lelouch opened fire, trying to hit the purple machine. But she was too fast.

Before Lelouch knew it, she had spun completely around him, and was now slamming into his frame, her left arm grappling his to keep him from shooting her at point blank range.

As the boy tried to move his Burai free, he noticed something that made his blood run cold. Cornelia's ejection pod firing. He knew how Cornelia fought, and a move like this could mean only one thing.

Purely on instinct, Lelouch hit his eject button.

Just as the pod began to shoot away, the purple machine exploded, incinerating his.

Lelouch just managed to hit the distress beacon as the pod impacted with a stack of containers, smashing the cockpit open. He was vaguely aware of his helmet being torn off as he blacked out.

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Naruto felt a chill run down his spine as he saw the Lelouch's distress beacon go up.

"Damn it!" he swore as he slashed through an unlucky member of the Glaston Knights that happened to be in his way and hit the Musashi's boosters, propelling it into the air and towards Lelouch's position. He really shouldn't have chased those Sutherlands so far.

He quickly reached Lelouch's position to find the busted and broken remains of his leader's Burai, and ejection pod.

'_Damn it kid, please be alive'_

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Lelouch wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but he could faintly hear someone speaking.

"…_louch…"_

"…ey …Lelouch…"

"Come on, are you okay man?" he flinched slightly as he felt something slapping his face lightly, knocking him out of the stupor.

Registering the voice, Lelouch slowly opened his eyes to find Naruto standing over him, the dark red mask absent from his face.

"Yeah… I'm okay" he didn't feel any intense pain so nothing should be broken, though he did feel a little sore from being bashed around.

Naruto's expression immediately brightened.

"Great. By the way, I think you'll be needing this" he said as he handed Lelouch his Zero helmet. Lelouch's eyes widened at the sight of it. He hadn't even noticed that yet.

"Thanks"

Nodding, Naruto's face turned serious. "Right, we need to get out of here. C.C. just called in, and there are some major reinforcements on their way from the Government Bureau. They'll be here in 10 minutes at most. I've already ordered a retreat. We're the last ones here"

Lelouch grimaced. Again they had failed to capture Cornelia. He was about to follow Naruto when he noticed something that made him pause. His handgun was gone. It seemed that the holster for it had been torn off in the crash. Knowing they didn't have much time, Lelouch gave a quick glance around, hoping to find it. But what he saw, only confused him. Sitting on the ground a few feet away was the holster, but the gun was missing. Then, as he realized the implications of this, a chill went down his spine.

"Zero, come on! We have to move!" Naruto called from the Musashi, the machine already powered on, its clawed hand extended to Lelouch for him to get on. Knowing they didn't have anytime to waste, Lelouch complied, jumping onto the hand. The mechanized limb quickly brought him up to the still-open cockpit and Lelouch climbed in, cramming himself into the small space behind Naruto's seat as the hatch closed. With that, the Musashi was off, heading back to the water.

"There was someone else" Lelouch grimaced from behind his mask.

"Huh?" Naruto asked as they started heading out over the water back to their command center.

"Someone else was there before you showed up. How long was I out?"

"Uh… I don't know, five minutes maybe? What do you mean someone else was there?"

"Exactly what I said. My weapon was gone when I woke up. The holster was torn off in the crash but somehow the strap holding the gun was undone. A crash doesn't do that"

Naruto's own eyes widened. "And if that's true then…"

"Whoever was there also saw my face. Did you see anyone else there?"

"No, I was checking to see if you were okay. Whoever it was, I probably scared them off when they saw me coming. Did you see anyone?"

"I think. Right before Cornelia surprised me, I'm pretty sure I saw someone hiding behind the containers. That might be it"

"Any idea who it was?"

"Maybe… But that's the thing… I thought I saw Shirley hiding there"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as a serious expression spread across his face.

"Well… That's not good"

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Shirley ran through the Tokyo streets, still not believing what had just happened. Lelouch, the boy she had known and admired for years… was Zero? The terrorist that had killed her father?

Once the battle had started, she hadn't known what to do. She couldn't run away with all the Knightmares fighting around her. So she had hidden behind some containers, only to see a fight between two Knightmares play out just fifty feet away from her. Finally, purple frames pilot ejected, and the other pilot seemed to eject too right as the purple machine exploded. She had seriously believed that she was about to die, but she was simply blown back by the shockwave, the blast blocked by the containers.

After the commotion had died down, she had approached the wreckage of the black Knightmare's ejection block. Somewhat out of concern for the pilot, but mostly out of sheer curiosity. She knew the Knightmare must have been part of the Black Knights or at some other terrorist group considering that the Knightmare it had been fighting was obviously Britannian. But as she approached it, she had gasped when she saw the unmistakable robes cloak and suit of the infamous Zero. This was him… The man who had killed her father. Shirley had been immediately taken over by some kind of vindictive rage. She wanted revenge. Revenge one this man for taking her father away from her. She picked up the gun that was laying on the ground, even though she had had no experience with anything like it. She had approached the prone form, not thinking straight at all. Her hands shaking, she aimed the gun at his head, until she realized something.

His mask… it was gone. And the face behind it… The dark hair, the pale skin… Oh god… It couldn't be…

Before her clouded and confused brain could even begin to piece this together, she heard the approaching roar. Her own fear kicking in, Shirley did the only thing she could think of.

She ran. She turned around and ran as fast as she could, not even bothering the drop the gun.

And so, she was now running down the streets of the Tokyo settlement, as if in some desperate attempt to escape the reality of it all. That Lelouch, the boy she thought she knew, and loved, was the one who murdered her father.

"Well well. Isn't that interesting"

Shirley's eyes widened as she spun around to see the man behind her, bent over slightly and looking at her with an odd, slightly manic grin.

"Wha… What? Wh… What are you talking about?" she stammered. She didn't know this man. Was he some kind of stalker? An eleven?

The man simply seemed amused by her fear. "Oh, you know. How the boy you love is your father's killer, and how he's killed so many other people. Maybe something like that"

"Wha…? N-No… Who are you? How do you know that?!" she screamed, pulling the stolen gun from her pocket, her hands shaking so hard she probably wouldn't have been able to hit him if she tried.

The man seemed unfazed by the loaded gun. "Well… I can't really answer the second question… But as for the first, _Shirley_…" he drawled, shocking her even more with the knowledge of her name. "I guess you can call me… Mao"

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There we go, chapter 5 and Mao's introduction. I know, it more or less went the same way with the JLF making their last stand (sort of) and Shirley finding out Zero's identity. Though I did go into further detail into Lelouch's reasoning behind using the JLF as living bait. From what I've seen in the series, I don't think Lelouch would go that far just to get Cornelia, so I'd say there was more to it then that, which I've shown.

And Mao makes his grand début… by getting mauled by Arthur. How did he get out of Ashford? I have no idea.

Also, Is Villeta dead? Maybe. I haven't decided yet. Though she might help Ohgi gain some actual relevance to the plot like she did in canon.

As for Naruto's upgrades to the Musashi, the thrust/booster system is basically the same one from Armored Core For Answers (being able to float across water and land), and the machine gun is the 03-MOTORCOBRA machine gun (also from ACFA)

And I'd say this chapter dispelled any doubts that this Naruto is the one we're familiar with, not some redone incarnation. He's the real deal. And his involvement is certainly going to make the whole Mao arc go a bit differently (More Lelouch/C.C. action? You bet).

Next Chapter: Geass vs. Geass (with backup)

_C.C.: I can't let him face Mao… Even you Lelouch, no, especially you, can't beat Mao._

_Lelouch: His Geass… So that's his game…_

_Naruto: Say cheese ya son of a bitch_

Read and Review


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"AHHHH"-Normal speaking

'_get out of my head!!'_-Normal thought

"_melon"_-Radio chat

**Chapter VI**

**Geass vs. Geass (with backup)**

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Suzaku Kuurugi sighed as he leaned back on the couch. It had been a long day in his opinion. The battle last night had kept him up for a while. First there was the veritable massacre of the JLF, then there was the appearance of the Black Knights, and that red frame that seemed to be every bit the Lancelot's equal in every way. The Gurren Mrk. II, as Lloyd and Cecile had called it.

'_I wonder just what kind of pilot it has. Whoever it is, they're certainly just as good as me. And… I wonder just what made someone like that join Zero? What do they see in him?'_

"Hey, Suzaku! Wake up! You there buddy?"

Suzaku's eyes flashed open, he wasn't even aware that they were closed, to see a hand waving in front of his face.

"Oh… Sorry Rivalz. I guess I haven't been getting much sleep lately" he apologized to his blue-haired friend. He and the student council had been in a meeting and it seemed he had dozed off. Well, almost all of the student council, Lelouch and Shirley were absent. Lelouch he could understand; his old friend never seemed to be around. But Shirley?

"Geez Suzaku, at this rate you're gonna end up being like Lelouch. You're dozing off almost as often as he does" Milly spoke up from her place next to the window.

"Hey, give me a break!" Suzaku retorted, "I'm a soldier remember? Sometimes we need to stay up late for our duties. And at least I'm not skipping class like Lelouch"

"Yeah, I guess you have a point. I don't have any idea what that slacker does that could take up so much time" the blonde replied in agreement.

"Oh, by the way Suzaku," Rivalz said, "I heard that there was some action by the harbor district last night. Know anything about that?"

"Ah, well there was a battle there last night" the Suzaku replied. He didn't really see any harm in telling his friends about the battle he had been in last night. They were just civilians after all. "We got a tip that the Japanese Liberation Front, or what was left of it anyway, was going to try to flee to the Chinese Federation with a tanker full of liquid Sakuradite. Naturally, Princess Cornelia-" Suzaku was cut off from his explanation as the phone on the coffee table in front of him rang.

Seeing as he was the closest to the phone, Suzaku picked it up.

"Hello? Ashford Academy Student Council"

"_Suzaku, it's me"_ came a familiar voice over the line.

"Oh, Lelouch. How's it going?"

"_I'm doing okay. Listen, is there anything odd going on there?"_

"Yeah, you're not here. Listen Lelouch, you're gonna have to stop cutting classes like this. Your grades are gonna start dropping like a brick" Suzaku joked as he scolded his friend.

"_Yeah, sorry about that. I'll try to show up more"_

"Well, to answer your question, not much. Oh yeah, you wouldn't happen to know where Shirley is would you? She never showed up today" Suzaku asked, so caught up in his conversation that he didn't notice a certain dark-furred cat approaching him and trying to bat at the phone cord.

"_Hm… No, I haven't seen her since the last meeting" _Lelouch answered, _"By the way, can you give a message to Nunnally for me? I'm not going to be back until late tonight"_

"Sure thing, I'll do that" Now the cat was eyeing him.

"By the way Lelouch, you know about president's plan-" That was when the cat pounced.

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"_By the way Lelouch, you know about the president's plan- GAAH! Arthur, stop it! OW! Arthur!"_

"Uh, Suzaku?" Lelouch asked into his cell phone, only for the line to cut out.

"Well, that was odd" Lelouch said as he hung up, turning around in his swivel chair to face Naruto and C.C. The former was leaning up against the wall next to the door to his office while the latter was lounging on his bed in the Black Knight's mobile HQ.

"In any event, Suzaku didn't seem to know anything, so that eliminates one important group; The Military"

"Yeah, and now we have a chance to intercept whoever was there before the military gets wind of it" Naruto added.

"Yes, but the military was also the most obvious group. It's hard to think of any other possibilities"

"Maybe it was a surviving member of the JLF?" C.C. suggested, feigning disinterest.

"Not likely" Naruto spoke up, "Even if any of those soldiers managed to jump ship during the assault, I highly doubt anyone could get far enough away before the Sakuradite went off. Besides, if they reported something like that to any surviving resistance groups, Kyoto would get wind of it and Lord Kirihara would contact us"

"Meaning that it could only be a civilian" Lelouch concluded. "It could be some random dock worker that got caught up in the chaos"

"I don't think so" Naruto said, "I think that phone call gave us our first suspect"

"What do you mean?" C.C. asked. Lelouch on the other hand, already had a good idea.

"Suzaku said that Shirley was missing, and Lelouch thought he saw her there last night. I'm pretty sure I saw her too when I was taking out that straggler before the operation"

"Why didn't you do something about that?!" Lelouch asked, obviously miffed. "You took care of that Britannian soldier, so why didn't you get her out of there? Or at least tell me?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think she was anyone important, it's not like I'm familiar with your friends. I thought she'd get out of there once the fighting started, and I was already running late when I took out that soldier"

"Alright Alright. I see your point. In any event, we need to confirm whether she knows or not and proceed from there" Lelouch spoke as he got up, putting on his helmet as he moved to the door.

"So… we start with Ashford then?" C.C. asked as she got up to follow him out.

"Yes"

"Want me to come too?" Naruto asked.

"You might as well. We'll probably need your help at some point" Lelouch answered as he opened the door.

Nodding, Naruto donned his own mask as he fell into step with his companions, walking alongside Lelouch while C.C. walked behind.

As they left the trailer however, Naruto spoke in a low voice.

"You do realize you may have to use your Geass on her, or worse?"

"Yes. I just hope it doesn't come to that" Lelouch answered with a grimace.

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"…and based on these photos hear, we can conclude with certainty that the red Knightmare is indeed the Gurren Mrk. II, a product of Indian scientist Rakshata Crawly" Cecile Croomy finished.

She was currently sitting in the main conference room of the Government Bureau at the large table with the second Princess and her generals. Lloyd sat next to her as she gave her superiors a detailed briefing on what the two of them had learned from their observations on the battle the night before. Cecile had to admit, she was a bit on edge. This was the first time she had met Princess Cornelia in person, and the second princess certainly gave off a foreboding presence.

"And what about that other elite Knightmare frame included in the report?" Gilbert G.P. Guilford, Cornelia's personal Knight asked. "What were you able to gather about that?"

At this, Lloyd stood up, pressing a few keys on the built-in computer in the table in front of him, bringing up several images on the large screen at the front of the room. The pictures of the Gurren Mrk. II were replaced by pictures of that new black and red machine.

"We believe that this machine is designed around much the same concept as our Lancelot. It's fast, agile, and excels at close range melee combat with swords"

Continuing, Cecile brought up a few more pictures, most blurred somewhat from the machine moving so much when they were taken.

"This Knightmare is obviously geared towards close-to-medium range combat. Its weapons seem to consist of a katana…" She brought up a close-up of said weapon slicing through a Sutherland, "…a medium-range, heavy machine gun…" an image came up of the black Knightmare holding the sword-like gun, "…four slash harkens mounted on the wrists and shoulder joints, as well as what appear to be a heavy rifle and a large claymore…" she finished as she brought up an image of the machine's back, showing the two weapons behind its shoulders.

"Finally, we believe its primary weapon to be this" she brought up a screen showing a video taken from one of the harbors security camera. The video showed a trio of Sutherlands on the dock, trying to recover from the Sakuradite blast. Suddenly, a hail of machinegun fire came out of the mist, shredding two of the Knightmares. Then, the black Knightmare leapt out of the smoke, driving what seemed to be an orb of dark-reddish energy into the final Sutherland. "We believe this weapon system to be similar to the Gurren's Radiant Wave Surger, except that instead of grabbing the enemy and bombarding it with high-intensity microwaves, this system simply forms a large sphere of energy and drives it into the enemy unit, followed by its detonation. In short, it appears to be far more concentrated and destructive then almost any Knightmare weapon used in the field to date"

The body of generals and commanders began murmuring amongst themselves, unrest clearly present.

"Also, as you can see from the pictures, this unit lacks any form of landspinner"

"Then how was it able to move? I heard reports saying it was moving like no Knightmare we've seen before!" General Darlton asked from his seat.

This time it was Lloyd who answered.

"We believe that movement is achieved through some kind of thruster system on the legs. It would allow the machine to float over the ground, moving in any direction it pleases, giving it far more movement options then landspinner-equipped Knightmares. Not to mention the fact that it would allow the machine to move over water as we saw, it's probably how it got across the bay. It's genius really. Far superior to our landspinners"

Several people in the room seemed displeased at the eccentric Earl's praise of enemy technology.

"In any event," Guilford started. "Do you know anything else about its capabilities? A weakness perhaps?"

Cecile shook her head.

"As far as we can tell, this machine is just as powerful as the Lancelot. And its pilot seems to be just as skilled as Major Kururugi. The only other bit of information we have on it we got from this radio message we intercepted" With that, she pressed a key on her computer. The speakers in the room filled with static as audio began to play. The words were a bit garbled, but still clear enough to hear.

"…_This is Raven, All forces pull back! Enemy reinforcements are inbound and Zero's unit is down! I repeat, all Black Knights initiate full retreat!" _

"…_What about Zero?"_

"_Don't worry, I'm on it. Musashi still has plenty of power. In the meantime, get out of here! We'll be right behind you!"_

"Based on this, we can assume the machines codename and at least who its pilot is"

"Who is this 'Raven' anyway? Is it a codename?" Darlton spoke up as the transmission ended.

This time it was the head of intelligence, an MI6 representative, that spoke up.

"According to the rumors around the ghettos, this 'Raven' is the name of Zero's first Lieutenant. He seems to have joined them soon after the battle of Narita, and has apparently been Zero's right hand man ever since. Some even call him Zero's personal Knight"

"Well, that would correspond with your findings at Narita. Are you sure this is the same machine?"

"We are positive of that sir"

"And what would you think your machine's chances of defeating this one are?" this time it was Princess Cornelia herself who spoke.

Cecile grimaced, already knowing the answer. They all knew the answer really. They had all seen the damage reports that that monster had caused. At least 25 Sutherlands and Gloucesters, destroyed in just under five minutes. It was a feat of piloting rivaled only by the legendary Knights of the Round themselves.

No matter how you slice it, while the Black Knights may have been outnumbered, they were by no means outmatched.

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"You know, it's kind of ironic what we're doing considering that most girls in this school would love the fact that you'd go through their things" Naruto said as he rummaged around Shirley's desk while hacking her computer at the same time.

Lelouch scowled as he picked through the orange haired girl's closet. So far, they hadn't found anything. Since returning to Ashford, he and Naruto had changed back into their civilian clothes, Lelouch into his normal street clothes and Naruto into a black and red jacket and a dark-orange T-shirt along with dark pants and tennis shoes, and gone with C.C. to try and locate Shirley. Needless to say, she was nowhere to be found.

So now, the odd trio was tearing through her room, while Shirley's Geass'ed roommate stood guard outside. Lelouch was digging through the girl's closet while Naruto took her desk and computer and C.C. took anywhere else.

Lelouch 'humph'ed in response to Naruto's quip as he continued to dig through a large pile of unsorted clothing trying to find any kind of secret box or whatever. C.C. just chuckled from under the bed.

Not hearing a response, Naruto just went back to feeling around the shelves around the desk while looking through the computer files.

"Let's see… Homework, Music files, pictures of Lelouch, yaoi doujins, more homework, emails from Nina, project papers, yaoi fanart, some research links, more pictures of Lelouch, emails from Kallen, links to yaoi fanfiction sites, love letters to Lelouch, emails from parents, some flash games, yuri fanart and doujin link from Milley (copy's to disk), even _more_ pictures of Lelouch, more links to yaoi fanart sites… and some school pictures. Well, apart from being your stalker and a yaoi fangirl, I don't see anything out of the ordinary here" Naruto finished as he subtly slipped a disc into his coat, seemingly unaware of how Lelouch now had a very obvious 'WTFH?!!' look on his face, and C.C. only looked a little less weirded out, though that might have been because of the extensive shounen-ai manga collection she found under the girl's bed.

"Not much else that I can…" Naruto trailed off as he pulled on one of the drawers on her desk, only to find it locked.

"Hm…" Naruto mused as he yanked on the handle a few times, then swiftly drew what appeared to be a small pole-axe from his trench-coat and smashed it into the lock, effectively breaking it.

Lelouch sweatdropped. For being such a subtle person sometimes, Naruto seemed to just love smashing things. Nonetheless, he and C.C. walked over as Naruto pulled the entire drawer out and set it on the desk.

"It looks like… some letters… a time schedule and… a diary. Well, this might prove useful" Naruto said as he handed Lelouch the diary and C.C. the schedule while he looked through the letters himself.

Lelouch sighed as he looked through the diary. More obvious information that she was infatuated with him. He didn't really care. Most girls at the school were no different. But what was odd was the fact that there was nothing in it from a few days ago forward.

"Ahh crap" Naruto drawled in a nonchalant way as he looked over the letter in his hand. "Looks like she knows"

"Are you sure?" Lelouch asked, his face clearly showing apprehension. If Shirley did know about his identity, and she was nowhere to be found… that could only be bad. For all he knew she might have gone to the police with this information. Or worse, the military.

"Ahem, _"I can't believe it. It just… It just doesn't make any sense! Lelouch... the boy I've known for years, and who I've fallen in love with… is Zero! He's the terrorist that killed Dad! How could he do this? Why? Why would he do such a thing?"_ it goes on to mention how she found out, but you get the idea" Naruto finished as he folded the letter back up.

"Does she say were she might be going? Or whether she's told anyone" Lelouch asked.

"No, and I don't think she's told anyone yet. Based on these letters, I'd say she's pretty confused right now. She doesn't want to believe what she saw, and so she hasn't told anyone yet. I think she's trying to wait to confront you about it or something before she tells anyone. It does mention she met up with some weird guy who said that he'd help her, but I don't think she was interested. Sorry, I don't have any idea"

"I do" C.C. spoke up from looking at the time schedule. "Look at this" she said as she showed the book to her companions, pointing to one row, "Today, at 5:30; Narita"

"Well, that's certainly a place to start" Lelouch said, nodding, "We'll head there next"

"'kay. By the way, you want me to burn these?" Naruto asked as he held up the letters.

"Yes" Lelouch agreed as he pocketed Shirley's diary in his coat, "Well, the next train for Narita leaves in thirty minutes. We can make that" the dark-haired teen continued as he checked his watch as the trio left the room.

"Well, let's go then"

"Hm" C.C. agreed in a disinterested manner.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"You did remember to tell your mind-slave to go back to her duties right?"

"Oh crap! I'll be right back"

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The terrorist, his immortal lieutenant, and his immortal girlfrien-er I mean, 'accomplice' walked casually out of the Ashford dorms, heading to the main gate.

"So what do you plan to do about this?" C.C. asked. "You know you won't likely be able to bring her to your side"

"I know"

"So does that mean you'll use your Geass? Or are you going to-"

"_Mes-sage on the blowing wind"_

"_Erasing mem-or-ies"_

"Sorry, that's me" Naruto spoke up as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, ignoring the odd looks Lelouch and C.C. were giving him about his ring-tone. "Ah, it's one of my contacts"

"Hey what's up?" he spoke into the mouth piece as he hit the 'answer' button.

Silence followed as the person on the other line said something.

"Yeah, I'm in Tokyo now"

As the person on the other line spoke, Naruto's eyes suddenly widened.

"What? Where?!"

They soon turned serious as Naruto spoke again.

"I see"

"Yeah. Thanks for the intell…"

With that, Naruto ended the call, turning immediately to his friends.

"Lelouch, I have to go. An MI6 team tracked down my contact, and I need to go help him"

Lelouch was taken aback for a second. Seeing Naruto this serious was a rare occasion, but he soon schooled his expression.

"Alright. Do what you have to"

The blonde nodded back as he turned to run off.

"I'll call you as soon as I'm finished!" he yelled back as he ran off into the city.

"Well then, let's go" Lelouch said as he and C.C. started walking towards the train station.

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"Lelouch. There's something I want to ask you" C.C. spoke as the two sat across from each other in the train compartment, the Japanese landscape rolling by outside.

"What?" Lelouch replied, gazing absently out the window.

"Your friend, Naruto, how much do you know about him?"

"Do you not trust him?" Lelouch asked.

"You didn't answer my question"

"Hm. Not much" Lelouch relented.

C.C. didn't reply, instead she simply returned her gaze to the window, though Lelouch could clearly make out a troubled expression on her face.

"What do you know about him?" he asked, echoing her question.

The green-haired girl mimicked his reaction as she seemed to be debating whether to answer him or not, but she seemed to relent after a few seconds.

"You don't know this, but Naruto is well known among immortal's like myself, and the Geass Directorate"

"Geass Directorate?"

"It's an organization created for the research and control of the power known as Geass, as well as a safe haven for those cursed by its power. I was the leader of it a while back"

"Hm" Lelouch mused as he thought about that. An organization centered solely around Geass? That might be something worth looking into at some point.

"Anyway, Naruto has had dealings with the Directorate for a long time, but only occasionally. It's how I know him"

"And what's your point witch?"

"I'm getting to that, boy. I said Naruto has had dealings with the Directorate for a while, but he has never joined, nor has he had any intention to join. That in of itself is nothing special. Plenty of immortals live around the world as hermits. It's who or rather _what_ Naruto is that makes him so special"

"Oh?" Lelouch asked, curious.

"Naruto is unlike any immortal that has ever existed. He possesses immortality, and the ability to induce mental shocks and is immune to Geass like other contract givers, but he also possesses Geass abilities too, something that no immortal has"

"So people like you can give out Geass, but can't possess one yourself?"

"Exactly. But he _can_. The directorate has been documenting his abilities as much as it can for a long time, and from what they found, he can use every possible Geass ability to some degree, something else that should be impossible. You can't have more then one Geass ability, even if you should try to make a second contract with another immortal, it wouldn't work"

"Anything else?"

"Yes. I said that he has had dealings with the Geass Directorate with a long time. To be exact, he's had dealings with it since it was _created_. In fact, it's believed that he was a mentor to its first Grandmaster and founder"

"And how long ago was that?"

"It was created in Athens, by Pearicles"

Lelouch's eyes widened slightly. "So you're saying that he's over 2,500 years old?"

"Older actually. The directorate has found archeological evidence tracing his existence back as far as the early Egyptian era, over 5,500 years ago. And even then, he continues to appear in the same manner he is now. That makes him the oldest living being on the planet"

"So what you're saying, is that you don't trust him"

C.C.'s eyes narrowed, as if trying to disagree, but she didn't say anything.

"That person is quite easily the most powerful being on the planet, and he has never sworn total allegiance to any cause. You'd be a fool to think you can order him around like you can the others. The only reason he follows you is because he _wants_ to"

Lelouch seemed to take all this in slowly, still a bit surprised at what this strange girl had just told him. In fact, it didn't just seem like she mistrusted the blonde, it seemed like she was almost… _afraid_ of him.

He started chuckling. At that thought, and another.

"What's so funny?" C.C. asked, sounding slightly miffed.

"I always knew that I couldn't order Naruto around like the others. And I trust him because he's my friend, and I know him. A lot more then you do too. So don't worry. In fact, I'd say you might actually be _afraid_ of him"

C.C. seemed a little flustered by that comment, but didn't reply.

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes, just watching the world pass by outside the window.

"By the way…" C.C. started.

"Hm?"

"When Naruto was staying with you and Nunnally, did he happen to have a cat with him?"

"Uh… yeah actually. Why?"

"No reason"

Lelouch's eyes narrowed. C.C. was obviously trying to hide something with that comment, but he'd let it slide for now.

"_Arrival at Narita in: Five minutes. All passengers, please prepare to disembark"_

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The air whipped past his face, his blonde hair covered by the black motorcycle helmet. Serious blue eyes narrowed behind the goggles on his face.

He was running late.

His hair and face were covered by the aforementioned helmet and goggles, while a large duffle-bag was strapped to his back.

"_Hey, what's up?"_

"_Naruto, I have some information I think you should know about. Are you in Japan?"_

"_Yeah, I'm in Tokyo now"_

"_Alright. I found out that a Geass user just flew in there the other day from the Chinese Federation. He's a Mind-reader by the name of Mao. He's pretty messed up from what I heard. You might want to watch out for him"_

"_What! Where?!"_

"_I don't know. But I do know that he was one of C.C.'s contract holders, and is near-obsessed over her. He might come after her and Lelouch at some point" _

"_Alright, thanks for the intell"_

"_No problem"_

Now, he was tearing along the road in his custom high-speed motorcycle. He knew that this guy wouldn't be able to read his mind, but even so, the special equipment he brought with him would help. He couldn't even warn Lelouch either. And this guy… an insane Geass user obsessed with C.C… Definitely a bad situation. There was no telling what he would do, and Lelouch was ill prepared to go up against someone like this, especially with no warning.

Lelouch… C.C…. He'd be damned again before he let something happen to those two, to his charges.

'_Taking such an interest in a pair of mortals? This isn't like you Naruto'_

Despite his foul mood, the blonde gave a small smile at the soft, melodious, yet almost monotonous voice in his head.

'_You know what I mean. They have to be the ones'_

'_Are you sure?'_

'_Their background… their existing connection… the timing… it's too good to just be coincidence. We're almost out of time as is. And neither of us believe in coincidence'_

'_Yes… It is almost time. Then we can finally return… my Naruto-kun'_

Naruto shivered as he felt the sensation of long, slender arms wrapping around his neck, and a warm body pressing against his back. Then… just as quickly as it came, it was gone, leaving Naruto missing it already. Giving another soft smile, Naruto patted the small warmth mass hiding in his jacket pocket, before looking up at an oncoming road sign.

_Lake Kawaguchi-20 kilometers_

_Narita-25 kilometers_

Naruto's scowl returned as he gunned the engine further.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Narita… It seemed like forever since he had last been here. In reality, it had been only three weeks since the battle. It seemed like the clean up was still in progress down in the city. Up on the mountain however, the mud and wreckage left by the Black Knight's rampage down the slopes had been cleared away. It almost looked exactly as it did before. Well, almost. Up the mountain slope, nearing the peak, was a memorial erected by the Britannians. Or at least that was what the area map mounted in the station had said.

Lelouch shook his head at that. It was just more of Britannia's PR campaign to justify crushing a people who were only fighting to reclaim what was rightfully theirs.

'_Huh. I actually sounded like Suzaku just then'_

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Lelouch turned to find C.C. standing in front of him, munching on some random junk food she had bought from the food court at the station. Food bought with _his_ money too.

"Well?" she spoke, her voice mumbled by the fries in her mouth.

"I asked around. A few of the station workers remember seeing her here a few hours ago, but nothing more. Nobody saw her leave though" the teen answered as he grabbed the giant pretzel she had been holding and began munching on it himself.

"Hey. That's mine!"

"Too bad. You bought all this with _my_ money. I'm obligated to at least some of it. Anyway, what did you find?"

"The same, more or less. A few saw her come here, nobody's seen her leave, nothing else" the girl replied. "In any event, I think we should split up. We'll cover more ground that way" she continued, gesturing towards the map.

"Do you even know what Shirley looks like?"

C.C. merely reached into her pocket, pulling out a picture of the orange-haired girl with Milly and Nina that she had obviously pilfered from the girl's room.

"Is she the stupid one, the annoying one, or the slutty one?" she said as she indicated Shirley, Nina and Milly in said order.

Lelouch rolled his eyes at her nicknames, though in all actuality, it was a rather apt description of the trio. He'd actually been of a similar opinion of the three girls. Shirley usually was a naive idiot, Nina was pretty annoying, and despite his cordial friendship with her, he still would be the first to admit that Milly flirted with practically everyone around her, male and female. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd think she was bi. He was pretty sure a good number of the student body thought that.

"The stupid one" he replied as he took a bite of the pretzel.

"Hm. As I thought" C.C. replied. "Well then, I'll take the east side of the reconstruction area, you'll take the west side, and we'll just work our way towards the memorial park. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good" Lelouch agreed. With that, he turned and started walking towards the exit, C.C. at his side.

"Oh, and if you do find her, don't kill her" Lelouch said in an almost exasperated tone.

"Please. Who do you think I am? Naruto?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nothing.

He had been walking around the reconstruction area for the better part of thirty minutes and had seen neither hide nor hair of Shirley.

Lelouch sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, a habit he had picked up from Naruto, in defeat. Where the hell was she?

Lelouch's thoughts were broken by the ringing of a cell phone, his to be precise.

'_I wonder who that is? I don't remember giving that witch my number. Though in retrospect I probably should'_

As he took the phone out of his pocket, the teen's eyes widened at the recognized name the phone was displaying.

'_Shirley?'_

Opening the phone and bringing it to his ear, Lelouch steeled himself for the worst. There was no telling how the girl would react.

A pause. Then something he wasn't expecting.

"_Hello there… Lulu"_ the boy's eyes widened at the sound of an unfamiliar, obviously male voice.

"Who is this? How did you get Shirley's phone?" Lelouch spoke, trepidation quickly entering his voice as a new possibility became apparent, one that explained Shirley's disappearance. And if Naruto's contact was being shadowed by MI6, could that mean that they the military really did know?

"_Well now. That's not very polite"_ the man replied. Lelouch scowled. He was clearly mocking him. And the voice… it didn't seem like that of a military agent. It had a random, unpredictable tone to it. Something common in people not entirely stable.

"Where are you? Where's Shirley?"

"_Well, I don't really feel like answering the second one. But as for the first one, you could always look behind you"_

"Huh?" Lelouch spoke as he turned behind him to find a man walking up to him, Shirley's phone pressed to his ear. The man was waving to him in an odd manner.

The man was in his late twenties, and was garbed in slightly odd clothing. Over a non-descript pair of pants and shirt, he wore a large white trench-coat, along with gray leather gloves. His hair was a pale whitish-silver, and fell around his head in a random and messy fashion, along with a bit sticking up above his forehead. Finally, his eyes were obscured by a thick visor that seemed to reach around his entire head. Lelouch scowl morphed into a mild grimace. He was obviously not in the military, or connected with it. But at the same time, that visor would prevent him from using his Geass on him.

"Just who are you?" Lelouch asked, shutting the phone off. "And what have you done with Shirley?"

"My my. That's no way to greet your new friend. But I suppose its befitting of a terrorist like yourself" Lelouch's eyes widened again at that remark. So he knew about him? Could that mean that he was the one Shirley mentioned in her letter?

"You haven't answered my question" he said flatly.

"Yes, I suppose I haven't. Well then… Lulu, I guess you can call me… Mao"

"Mao huh? Well then, what have you done with Shirley?" Lelouch continued, a little weirded out at the nickname the man was using. When Shirley used it, it was just annoying but hearing it from this guy was just plain creepy.

"Well… If you want to know where your _dear_ Shirley is _that_ badly… Then how about we play a little game then?"

"A game?"

"Yes. Just a little game of chess. You _do_ think you can beat me of course, don't you?"

Lelouch frowned. It wasn't that he doubted his own abilities, it was something about the man in front of him. Something about him seemed… off. Like he wasn't entirely stable. And with him unable to use his Geass… that didn't bode well. Sure, Naruto had taught him some CQC, but this guy could have a gun for all he knew.

"Alright then. Where?" Lelouch decided that at this point it was best to just play along, for now.

"Splendid! Splendid!" Mao clapped in an odd fashion, something that only reinforced Lelouch's suspicions about his mental stability. "Just follow me" With that he turned and walked towards the tram station. Lelouch followed, very tense at this point.

'_I hope I know what I'm doing. Not like I have much of a choice though'_

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Excuse me, have you seen this girl around here recently?" C.C. said in her usual monotonous tone to a some random man walking his cross-country motorcycle as she showed him the picture, indicating Shirley in it.

"The orange-haired one?"

She nodded.

The man's face scrunched up as he examined the photo.

"Hm… Yeah… I think I saw her near the station. I think she was heading for the tram station with some guy with her, but that was about two hours ago" he said as he pointed to the tram station nearby.

"Well, thanks anyway" C.C. replied as she pocketed the photo and looked over to the station.

And just as she did, her eyes widened as she saw the two people walking towards a waiting car. Lelouch, the boy whom she would admit was unlike almost anyone she had ever met, following a very familiar man with silver hair.

'_No… Not him. Anyone but him!'_

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'_What… Just who is this guy?'_

Lelouch stared at the chessboard in disbelief. This man… the man sitting across from him giving him an odd, but smug grin had beaten him. Not just beaten him, he had _demolished_ him.

"Who are you?" he asked, shock clearly evident in his voice.

"Oh like I said, I'm Mao" the man replied as he waved his finger like a parent scolding a disobedient child. Again, clearing taunting him.

Suppressing a scowl, Lelouch's gaze returned to the board, trying to find some way of explaining how this man had beaten him so easily. Not even Schnicizel had ever been able to read him moves like this. It was like this man knew every move he was going to make as soon as he did. Wait…

"…_I've found that Geass users tend to be drawn to one another for some reason or another"_ Naruto's words echoed through his mind.

Lelouch couldn't help the small, victorious smirk that briefly graced his face as he spoke, or rather thought.

'_You can read my thoughts, can't you?'_

Mao began laughing in a manner that seemed just a _little_ insane to Lelouch as he clapped in that odd manner.

"Ah ha ha ha. So the wayward prince finally figured me out eh? Well, I suppose you didn't become such an infamous terrorist by being stupid now did you?"

He seemed to calm down some as his hand reached up to the visor that obscured his eyes.

"Though I have to say, that little _gift_ you have must have come in handy too. We are oh so similar you and I" he said as he pulled the visors down, revealing two very familiar sigils in his eyes.

'_Geass! I knew it!'_ Lelouch thought as he quickly activated his own power. He had to make this quick. Unfortunately, Mao was quicker.

"Oh no you don't!" the man said as he quickly replaced the visor, obscuring his eyes behind the tinted plastic and rendering Lelouch's Geass useless. "I heard what you were thinking before when we met. You were complaining to yourself how you wouldn't be able to use your Geass on me with these visors on. I know all your tricks… Lulu"

Lelouch 'tch'ed in frustration at his failure before speaking.

"Yeah well, I played your game. So where's Shirley. You said you'd tell me where she was if I played your game"

"Oh but of course" Mao replied as he turned his head to the window behind him. As Lelouch followed his gaze, he realized that they were coming into the tram station at the top of the mountain. "In fact, she's right there" He finished as he gestured to the back window of the car as it stopped.

Lelouch's eyes widened as he saw Shirley, pacing slowly back and forth at the top of the platform.

"Shirley!" with that he jumped up from his seat, running out the opening doors onto the platform steps to face her. "Are you o-" Lelouch was cut off as Shirley pointed a very familiar gun at him. _His_ gun. The one he had been carrying during the Tokyo Harbor operation.

If there was any doubt in his mind that Shirley knew who he was, that crushed it.

"Shirley… what are you doing?" even knowing that Shirley was aware that he had been the one responsible for her father's death, Lelouch was surprised that she would ever go this far. Was she that angry at him? He took a few steps forward, only to stop as she raised the gun at him.

His thoughts were broken as she spoke. Spoke in a weak voice as her hands began to shake even as they held the gun.

"Lulu… why? How could you do this?"

"That… that gun is…"

"Yes. It's Zero's gun… Your gun Lulu"

'_Yeah… she knows alright. Damn it!'_

"Yes. 'Damn it' indeed" Mao said as he walked out of the car, standing a few feet behind him. "Now that she knows who you are, you'll have no choice but to kill her, and that can be such a mess to clean up, even with your Geass"

Shirley's eyes widened as he spoke, and her fingers began shaking, like she was already preparing to pull the trigger.

'_Damn. Now I get it! This is all just a sick, twisted game for him! He uses his Geass to read her mind, and because he knows what she's thinking it makes her easier to control. He's trying to set Shirley off and get her to kill me!'_ Lelouch's mind was racing at this point. He had to do something. Maybe he could talk her out of it, talk some sense into her…

"Shirley, don't listen to this guy! I'm your friend here! He's only trying to use you!"

"Oh? I'm trying to _use_ her? Just like _you_ used _her_?" Mao cut him off. This really was _so_ amusing to him. "At least I'm truthful with her. Unlike you who simply lied to her again and again. All those times you pushed her away… you were too busy plotting the destruction of Britannia and the killing of its soldiers. People like her _father_"

Those words alone had a definite effect on Shirley.

"No… Lulu really were planning all this weren't you? You wanted to kill people! All those people!"

'_Damn. She's far too unstable. The worst part is… he's right. He's being truthful with her while I've been lying to her all this time. At this rate… I probably will have to use my Geass'_

"Oh no you don't" Mao spoke up. "You best not use your Geass, or I'll just have to kill you both. That wouldn't make this much fun now would it?" he continued as he drew his own gun from his pocket, pointing it to Lelouch.

'_Damn it! What now? I can't make any plans in my head. He'll just read them. Is his Geass that powerful? Does it have any limits at all? A time limit? A delayed reaction? Anything?'_

"Yes. Keep thinking Lelouch. Keep thinking. Its what you do best after all. Thoughts spinning round and round and roun-"

"Shut up damn it!" Lelouch yelled. This guy… his mind reading may have been able to let him control a weak-minded person like Shirley, but to someone like Lelouch it only served to be an annoyance, a very big annoyance.

"Heh. This is a fitting death. Poetic justice for a thief like you"

"Wha…?"

"Lulu… die"

The boy's eyes widened at Shirley's weak voice, though it held a small amount of strength born from demented determination.

"We'll die together. We'll both atone for our sins"

"Yes. Yes. Sinners _must_ be punished"

"Do you ever shut up?!"

"Oh I'm sorry. But this is just _so_ fun. Controlling peoples lives is just oh so amusing. Wouldn't you agree?"

'_Damn. I need to talk some sense into her'_

Shirley's hands were now shaking so much, Lelouch wondered whether or not she _could_ hit him.

"If you think murder is a sin, then this definitely counts as one. You call that atonement?"

"Oh yes, I like your rhetoric. So dramatic"

"N-No… Your wrong" Shirley's voice was now quivering

"Ah, but there's a problem with your logic Lelouch. If she kills you that's murder, but if she takes her own life wouldn't that even the scales?"

Shirley's eyes widened, before setting into the shaky determination from before, and more importantly, her hands stopped shaking.

'_Great. I was right. This _is_ all some sick game for him. He's trying to make Shirley kill me then commit suicide. I can't get through to Shirley, and if I use my Geass he'll know and then he'll shoot me. What can I do? It can't end like this!'_

Shirley's fingers pressed onto the trigger.

'_Think damn it! Think!'_

They pulled.

A shot rang out in the tram station.

Lelouch's eyes widened, but not in pain, as no bullet had hit him. In shock. Mao's eyes did the same, as did Shirley's own as the gun in her hands was split to pieces.

'_Lelouch! Down!'_

Lelouch complied, instantly dropping too his knees as another shot came out from the woods to their left, this one aimed right at Mao's head. The crazed man had apparently heard the message because he ducked just in time, the bullet just taking off his visors and cutting his forehead.

Hearing the tinted plastic clattering to the ground, Lelouch spun, hoping to catch Mao's unprotected eyes with his Geass. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough, and Mao was already leaping over the railing at the bottom of the platform, sliding down the tracks as he tried to make for the woods.

But even as he did, Naruto had already burst from the woods onto the platform, a high-powered sniper rifle in his hands with C.C. right behind him.

Rushing past Lelouch, Naruto stopped at the bottom of the platform, taking aim and firing off several more rounds at the retreating form of Mao. Though some did hit the man, none were enough to slow him down or kill him.

With Mao out of sight and his magazine empty, Naruto lowered the rifle, an annoyed look on his face.

"Bastard's quick on his feet, I'll give him that"

Turning, he found Lelouch getting to his feet, brushing dust off of his pants.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" Lelouch answered as he nodded to the blonde. Suddenly remembering Shirley, he turned around to find the girl being restrained by C.C., the former looking more and more fearful by the second while the latter simply looked annoyed at her struggling.

"Are you going to kill her?" Naruto asked as they approached.

"No. She's been caught up in something she never should have been. She's still my friend, and for her own safety, she doesn't need to know about any of this"

As he stood in front of the restrained Shirley, Lelouch noticed that she was averting her eyes, refusing to look at him. Sighing, Lelouch grabbed her face, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"This is for your own good Shirley. It's best if you don't know who I am anymore" he spoke in an apologetic tone as his right eye began to take on a reddish hue. Shirley's eyes widened as the crimson sigil, nearly identical to the one in Mao's eyes, appeared in his right eye.

With that, he forced his will upon her mind, willing her to forget everything she knew about him, Zero, that night, and this moment. As his Geass worked its mystical power on her, erasing everything memory she had of him, he spoke in a low voice, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hear him.

"I'm sorry. Goodbye"

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The memorial stone. Dedicated to all those brave soldiers who died in the battle of Narita.

Shirley smiled softly as she set the flowers she had brought on the stone alongside many others. Her mother had been right. She supposed that she had finally found some peace with her father's passing.

As she stood and began walking off, she was unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching her, one a dark amethyst, the other a sky-blue.

Lelouch's face was unreadable as he watched the girl walk off. It hadn't been very hard for him to erase himself from her memory, and it wasn't hard for him block her out of his mind either. She was a peer, not a close friend, but a friend nonetheless. It wasn't so much the act itself that troubled him, it was the lesson he had learned from this incident. Naruto's words of wisdom continued to echo through his head.

"_Then until that task is completed, you should forget about all but the second one"_

"_You must not include your heart in this battle if you wish to keep your sanity. Bury your personal feelings, and concentrate on your greater goal. You must fight for something greater then yourself, if you wish win" _

Now he fully understood what Naruto had meant. By keeping people close to him, he made them vulnerable to his enemies. Would he have to distance himself from everyone? Milly, Rivalz, and even… Nunnally? Just like he had with Shirley? The first two he could probably handle… but Nunnally… His sister was one of the core reason's he was fighting this war. To create a peaceful world where she could finally be happy. Where she wouldn't be judged by her handicap and disability. And if he distanced himself from her… Just what would he be fighting for? What could keep him from being consumed by the same darkness that had consumed his father?

Naruto could sense the conflict in his friend's mind. "It's an interesting paradox actually"

"Huh?"

"Your predicament. The only way you can keep yourself from losing the way to your goal is to have someone close to you. Someone who can be an anchor for you always. But at the same time, bringing someone close to you will put them, and you, in harms way. It's a cruel paradox to say the least"

"Any suggestions?"

Naruto adopted a far-off look in his eyes as he stared upwards. "Find someone who will always be there for you, no matter what. A person who understands you, is like you, and will never leave you. And most importantly, a person who you know you won't have to look after. A person that can look after themselves"

"Like who?" Lelouch asked, a bit confused by Naruto's words.

"I don't know" Naruto replied, "that's for you to find out for yourself" but as he finished, Lelouch noticed that for a split-second, his eyes centered on a figure approaching them.

"I got the tickets" C.C. said in her usual monotone as she reached them. Noticing Lelouch's expression, she spoke again. "Don't tell me you're hung up over what happened with that girl?"

"Of course not. I didn't even like Shirley that much. She was in too deep and I threw her out before she wound up dead"

"Hm. Good"

Lelouch gave her a look of mock-surprise. "You? Concerned with me? That's a first witch"

"Please. I'm only concerned with your physical well-being. As long as you don't go doing something that gets you killed, I don't care what you do"

"Really? So that relief is about his well-being and not the fact that he's not interested in Shirley?" Naruto spoke up, that infuriating smirk on his face.

"Shut up! And it is the former" C.C. shot back. Lelouch himself could only smirk at her plight.

"Oh? Well I guess that's understandable. After all, you seemed _pretty_ concerned when I ran into you. And heck, you almost looked ready to break Shirley's neck back there"

"Why you…!"

"That's enough. Let's go, the train leaves in fifteen minutes anyway" Lelouch spoke up. Apparently, C.C.'s mistrust of Naruto wasn't enough to keep her from trying to pummel him.

"Yeah, you're right" Naruto agreed as he stared walking off. C.C. simply snorted in frustration as she and Lelouch followed him. The dark-haired teen on the other hand, found himself pondering Naruto's words.

'_Someone like myself… A kindred spirit? Hm…'_ unconsciously, his eyes drifted to the green-haired girl walking beside him who, oddly enough, was eyeing him herself out of the corner of her eye.

As soon as she noticed his look, she quickly averted her own, fighting back the small redness threatening to grace her cheeks, unaware that Lelouch was doing the same thing.

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Well, there you go.

I know, most of you were probably hoping for an update for Roku Naruto. Sorry, but I might have to put that one on hold for a little while until I get past a writers block I've been having with it.

As you can see, Lelouch is a bit OOC compared to canon, and you can probably also tell that I don't like Shirley (what can I say? she's almost as annoying as Nina). Will she die eventually? Maybe. But if she does, it'll definitely be in a way that says I don't like her.

And for those a bit confused as to why Naruto lied to Lelouch about where he was going, he knew from his contact that Mao was a mind-reader, and knew who Mao was from Shirley's letters. So if he had told Lelouch, then Mao would have been able to pick up on his plan by reading Lelouch's mind.

Oh, and I know that I did say that Naruto wouldn't be paired with anyone. I actually just meant anyone from the Code Geass universe. His mysterious companion will be explained later (along with his contact).

And Naruto's ringtone is 'Beyond the Bounds' from Zone of the Enders II. Foreshadowing? Maybe.

I originally had the idea for Naruto to go completely overboard in this situation and use a .50 cal rifle to save Lelouch, but I think that might have created a few loose ends that would have been a bit difficult to tie up, namely:

Shirley's missing arms

the massive blood splatter created from Mao's vaporized torso

the two giant holes in the tram behind them

By the way, C.C.'s 'assessment' of Milly, Shirley and Nina comes from a friend of mine.

And on a final note, I'm going to be concentrating a good bit on the Geass element of the CG universe, so any suggestions on Geass powers would be quite helpful. The only restrictions being that they have to be mind-based (no telekinesis or laser eyes). Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Read and Review


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